How Do You Cope with Figure Skating Injuries?

Gosh poor girls!!
I have no medical expertise whatsoever, but feel really obliged to share my experience.
I injured my ankle in gymnastics years ago, and the sports injury clinic orthapedist and physio I went to both said it was really unlucky I had a severe sprain – a severe break would supposedly have healed much faster/stronger. I was unable to walk for over a month. I didn’t start training for a couple of weeks after I started walking and I don’t know if it was too soon or just unlucky coincidence that it’s been very easily sprained ever since.
If you have access to sports medicine specialists (including physios who can guide the rehab stage) I recommend them highly for sprains!!

PS: The reason I wonder if I started training again too soon is because my mother decided they were just indulging my supposedly exaggerrated complaints and she packed me back to the gym against recommendations. The gym wouldn’t refund the prepaid fees for the quarter or apply it as credit in the future.

I’m so sorry for both your daughters.

Overcoming fear after an injury really depends upon the child’s personality. It’s a good sign that Ice Girl got back on the ice the next day.

For Helicopter Mom, sometimes it’s difficult to keep your skater off the ice for the necessary time to heal because they don’t want to lose the training time, especially with Regionals coming up. And how do you decide when enough time has elapsed? With a break it’s pretty easy because it’s usually 2 weeks after the cast comes off, but how do you gauge this for sprains and strains?

For the person shelling out the money, it’s tough to deal with because in a sport that’s so expensive, you don’t get refunds for competition or test fees. With a doctor’s note, most rinks will credit your contract ice for when your skater can get back on the ice.

I’m dealing with a similar situation myself. My son was just diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatters disease, which isn’t really a disease at all but an overuse injury of the growth plate below the knee which usually develops in kids going through growth spurts who are involved in sports. His doctor said that he’ll probably have to deal with this until he stops growing, but he can continue to skate even when he’s in pain. The problem is that he’s in a lot of pain when he does his doubles and definitely can’t skate his best. He also has a couple competitions coming up, including Regionals, which he doesn’t want to miss. I’m hoping that I’m making the right decision in letting him continue to skate, although I told him he might have to take a break from skating after Regionals. Then I’ll have to beg his doctor for a note, otherwise we’ll be out the contract ice fees for that time. Currently I’m doing a lot of research on Osgood-Schlatters.

He injured his left knee earlier this year. A couple months earlier he’d been off the ice for 8 weeks with a broken arm and he did not want to take any more time off. If I had told him he couldn’t skate, he would have told me his knee felt better even if it didn’t just to get back on the ice. So we compromised and he continued to skate but didn’t jump. He worked on his footwork and spins which didn’t bother the knee. Now we continue to do the strengthening exercises that he was doing in PT in the hope of preventing a similar injury.

You’re going to have to see what the otho says. I’ve sprained both my ankles several times. The first serious sprains occurred when I was playing volleyball in high school. Then for about 5 years after that I found that my ankles were weak and easily sprained again, but usually to a less serious degree. The treatment I was given was ice for the first 48 hours and then heat after that. I used to just soak my injured ankle in a bucket of either ice water or warm water. I ended up on crutches more than once, and I always had my ankles taped for games. Ace bandages became part of my wardrobe, but I don’t think they’d work too well under skates. Your daughter may find that her ankle is weak for a few years. Hopefully she’ll get recommended for PT and you’ll get some good exercises to help strengthen the ankle. I never went to PT for my ankles.

Good luck, and I hope it’s not too serious a sprain.

I don’t know how long ago your sprain was, but your ankle will get stronger and less prone to sprains. As I mentioned in the above post, I had several sprains after my first serious ones, sometimes just by my ankle giving out and twisting when I was going down stairs. At this point in time, I haven’t sprained either ankle in years.

This is really hard when a skater is injured this time of year with Regionals approaching. Under normal conditions you could just give them plenty of time to heal, but any time there is a big competition on the horizon there is much more pressure to get them back on the ice ASAP. We have been fortunate not to ever have an injury too severe but others we know have had things like this happen. There is a story of some girl at our rink years ago who was injured so badly on a double axel that she never wanted to skate again. (Unsure how true that one is, before my daughter’s time) And we also have one girl who took a bad fall trying to learn her axel and it messed her up “mentally” so that she never even worked on axels again. (This was such a shame, this girl was a good skater – perhaps a little too dramatic over a fall, she didn’t even brake anything.) My own daughter has had what we strongly suspect was a broken tail bone once, our doctor said there was nothing to be done other than stay off the ice for at least 2 weeks, which my daughter refused to do, she just whined about her tail bone off and on for a month! :~/ We also know a girl who had the bad habit of “sitting down” on her double jump attempts a lot, hitting her tail bone numerous times – she now has severe scholiosis in her spine and has to have surgery when she is done skating. (Or at least done jumping.) Her doctor said that figure skating is a sport that often causes scholiosis (spelling?) in young girls. I can see how that would maybe be true…
As far as coming back after an injury I think the mental aspect is the hardest, esp if they are already into the “mental” teen years. I wouldn’t pressure them too much, just stay totally relaxed and let the child do what they are comfortable with each day. They may suprise you! Let them decide. I think being too pushy about going back to jumping, full out training, can actually make a lot of girls balk and want to run the other way. (I have seen other parents do this at our rink!) Do not focus on what they did or didn’t do on the ice that day – focus on how they felt while on the ice – what felt fine, what hurt too much to do, try to encourage them without rushing them. (Why do i suddenly feel like I’m talking about how to train a horse?) I think that it is hard to come back from an injury and the child should be given extra encouragement. Hopefully with time they will overcome any fears.

Jumpingbean had the start of a stress fracture in her heel early this season…it was fortunately early. We kept her off the ice as long as we had to, she did off ice stretching and such, and then she went back without jumping for a while. It was very stressful indeed.

Just an update for Ice Girl:

We talked about how it’s best to tackle something scary right away instead of letting the fear grow larger and larger. Ice Girl didn’t really want to talk about it.

Anyway, last night she and Ice Coach did some Axels in the pole harness. Then Ice Girl did some out of the harness. I was pleased.

Ice Coach left and Ice Girl gave me the signal for watch me, please. Then she went and did her double Salchow. *Whew!* She did several.

In the van, she told me that she was terrified. I said, no, she was courageous. Courage is being afraid to do something, but doing it anyway.

She did more this morning. That’s my girl. Tough.

OK. That’s not my girl. I don’t know who this courageous kid is, but I like her.

Did anyone notice that the bottom foot x-ray has six toes

I thought it was fun…

That is really good!! I am waiting to see if my older dd, who flew OVER her horses head on a jump on Saturday, will jump again. My dd is pretty good about falls in skating, but I have seen her hold back a tad after a particularly bad one– it seems to go away after a few days. Go Ice Girl.

In my experience it is always best to get back to skating as soon as possible to get rid of the fear factor. However, if it is a seriously strained/sprained muscle then it is important to take time off to heal. In my experience the worst falls are the unexpected ones. Falling on jumps is somewhat expected, and your body gets used to knowing how to fall. Although the repeated beatings isn’t really all that good it doesn’t usually result in serious immediate injury. However, the unexpected falls – when you hit something that just isn’t supposed to be there and your skate just stops dead – those are the worst. You and your body are not prepared to fall and usually end up in an awkward position. One time I hit something while I was skating and fell like a stone right onto my knee. I got up and skated (painfully) for about 2 minutes just to make sure it would bend, but it got so painful I had to stop and put ice on it to stop the swelling. My knee was bruised for the better part of 3 months and was puffy for about 8 months. I didn’t really take much time off (I left early that day) but there really wasn’t much to be done other than lots of ice for the swelling and later heat when it got stiff. It is sort of scary to go back after taking an unexpected fall because you never know when they are going to happen. I can’t really say how I get over that; I think you just have to try to turn off the brain and just skate for a bit until it just feels normal and natural and not scary again.

I have had ankle problems as well, and usually those take more time off skates to heal. My advice is start back about 2 days after walking feels tolerable, but do not do any jumping the first day. Don’t overstress it the first day back because it will just prolong the injury. Give it about 1-2 days of skating without doing too many advanced jumps but slowly work up to practicing at the level you were before the injury. Also, starting with easier jumps and working back to the hard ones will hopefully help you regain confidence and focus on good technique before trying the harder jumps.

Sorry, I don’t have any suggestions that will help, so all I can do is commiserate with you. I say wrap them ALL in bubble wrap!

In the last 6 months we’ve been through: busted tailbone, broken hand/wrist, pneumonia, and currently a broken bone in the foot. It all depends on the personality/determination of the skater. If it were me, I would have given up LONG ago, but my daughter keeps at it.

A month ago, she was away at a skating camp and was having a hard time walking. She returned home, we trekked up to her podiatrist… fearing the worst, a stress facture in her foot. I figured it was the end of her season. No stress fracture, instead a bone was actually broken in two… but she was still allowed to skate – to the extent the pain would allow. Turns out it’s an overuse injury (those darned double axels), so much like a baseball pitcher returning with a limited pitch count, she’s on a “limited jump count”.

Ice Mom,

I just thought I’d post because I have been catching up on reading posts after being gone on vacation. I wanted to tell you how much I can relate to many of the posts. Like Ice Girl, my daughter is 14. She just passed Intermediate Moves in August and will test ISI FS 6 later this month. Also, like Ice Girl, she is in 9th grade, balancing school time with sleep and dance, but is also doing synchro. My daughter also started skating later – just 2 1/2 years ago when she was almost 12. And, we have been down the 8 stitches route as well – on her chin about a year ago. I, too, am thrifty and cringe at the costs of figure skating. Our rink now charges between $16-17/hour for ice so I would welcome the $11 you pay. Anyway, because our daughters are at similar levels in similar situations, I greatly appreciate all of the advice in the blog and thank you for writing so frequently.

OK, I know this is supposed to be about skating, but . . . Did the horse refuse the fence, did your daughter get ahead of the horse, or did the horse go left and she go right after the fence? I’ve been through all those scenarios. I always made sure to remount and at least jump a small cross rail before I finished for the day. Thank goodness hard hats are required when you’re jumping horses.

She’s skating with a broken bone? What a trooper! It sounds like she’s really been throught the mill. What a tough kid!

Hi, Mom!

Thank you very much for the kind words! So sorry to hear of your daughter’s stitches. Did the wound heal well? We’re wondering about scarring here, but Ice Girl will visit her regular doc tomorrow afternoon and we’ll find out.

Thanks for reading!

Ice Mom

I wasn’t there (thankfully)- my dd is almost 16. She said the horse jumped as if the fence was 6 feet instead of 3- and she didn’t expect it and lost her balance.

The stitches healed well. There is a slight scar but it doesn’t show unless you focus on the chin. Hopefully, you will be lucky.

I really feel for both girls. Exactly last year, I caught a rut while spinning, my blade got stuck in the ice, my body kept spinning and my foot… didn’t. I heard something crackle in the ankle. It wasn’t broken, thank heavens, but the ligaments were in pretty poor shape. I wasn’t allowed to walk for a week, and couldn’t skate for another six weeks. That came after another spin-related injury, when my edge threw me off the ice on the entry, and my head met the ice quite violently. So that was two visits to the ER in less than six months, both because of spins.
What I didn’t have, and your girls are very lucky to have, were supportive parents. Mom and Dad flew off the handle and tried to get me to quit skating.
Needless to say, I kept a fear for those damn spins with me for a long, long time, and I’m still not a strong spinner. Working with the fear of an element was… tough, to say the least. My coach gave me all the time I needed, but my parents didn’t even try to encourage me to get back on track. If I can do it, “fine, whatever, dear, that’s very nice”. If I fall on my rear, they want me to get off the ice and do something more productive. I get more frowns and scowls and “look at the time” signals than encouragement. It’s safe to say they’re not very good skating parents.
So, from the perspective of an injured skater, I can say battling a skating injury requires a fair deal of support and encouragement from the loved ones. Having a mother or a father there to cheer one on, to listen without scowling, to encourage one, and not to let one go down to the pit of despair because of the fear and the frustration with that troublesome element can mean the world. No matter how tough the kid is, going it alone (or having to fight the parents along with the injury) makes things so much more difficult.
Helicopter Mom, be there for your daughter, give her all the moral support she requires (and the occasional cookie), be her shoulder to cry on, listen to everything she has to say, be it anger, frustration, or fear, because it’s you she’ll always turn to at the end of the day.
Good luck to both girls!

yep i put a pick in my arm (left a scar) and the back of leg in the same day (darn those stupid toe loops)but i love this sport and i hope i will be good one day but until then i expect at least 3 engerys…

Last year my daughter fell and cracked her head. She ended up with a head concussion. She wasn’t the one with the problem going back on the ice, I was the problem! I was scared for weeks and kept watching her to make sure she didn’t fall. Even now, a year later, as both of my children skate I watch and still get that fear that one of them is going to fall and hit their head! Thankfully my children are just the type of kids who will get right back up and go again. I don’t really recall saying anything profound during the injury, which by the way kept her off the ice for 2 full weeks!.

I read all your columns Ice Mom, and usually have nothing much to add. However this topic is one I can relate to and share some experience with! I am an adult skater, a month shy of 30, and I started taking skating lessons in February 2009. While learning backward stroking in April 2009, I suffered a severe wrist sprain that took 6 weeks to heal. Around September of the same year, I had a nasty fall to the hip while practicing a waltz jump (my edge went right out from under me on the landing), and over a period of weeks the hip pain grew until it was absolutely unrelenting. I skated until I simply couldn’t manage it anymore. In late October I learned my problem was a femoral neck stress fracture (an incomplete fracture of the hip). Although I had a serious injury that required the use of crutches for three months (problematic when you live on the third floor of a building with no elevator as I do!!), all I could think about was getting back to skating. Skating resumed in February of this year. In June I suffered another stress fracture, this time to the fibula, likely due to the stresses of landing various jumps. Six weeks later, I broke a rib when my edge dropped out from under me on a forward inside spiral. Currently, there’s something going on with my knee, probably because I torqued it and fell atop it on another bad spiral. I don’t know what the injury is, nor do I care to know until it hinders important skating movements. I’m about to test out of FS3 and nothing short of convalescence will stop me from achieving that goal!

People like to point out to me that I’m a little old to be “taking risks” or indulging in such a risky sport. They think I am foolish. They tell me it isn’t worth the risk. The best I can do when confronted with these arguments is try and find out what their passion is, and ask them to consider what they’d do if similarly injured. This is when it gets interesting, because I seldom find folks adore an activity to the extent that I love skating. To me, to feel that passion is the real prize that makes it all worthwhile. There is nothing quite like the feeling of mastering a new skill, keeping up with the kids and teens, receiving an honestly spoken “good job” from my coach, or a round of applause after a program executed to the best of my ability. When I injure myself skating, my first question for the doctor is always “when can I get back on the ice?”

Like some skaters and parents here have mentioned, you cope according to your skater’s needs. Minor injuries need to be acknowledged and tended – RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) is a favorite acronym of mine! – but it is the skater who must decide whether to carry on while nursing a smaller ailment. In the case of a broken bone, or major injury, parents have a responsibility to make absolutely certain their skater is able to fully recover, is educated in methods to reduce the likelihood of recurrence (anything from specific strengthening exercises taught by a physical therapist to ensuring equipment is properly maintained), and is willing and able to return to the sport. When I couldn’t skate, I read about skating, watched skating, dreamed of skating, and lamented being unable to skate. Kids who want very much to return to the ice will likely engage in these same activities. If, however, there is any hint of reluctance to return to the ice, it’s perfectly appropriate to have a serious conversation about the skater’s intent and goals with respect to the sport. Fear will yield a different discussion than disinterest. Let the skater’s heart and desires guide the way. And parents, pat yourselves on the back for all that you do for your love of your children, and their love for their sport.

P.S. – IceMom, I just finished my first practice dress over the Labor Day weekend. It turned out beautifully for a first effort! Thank you for all of the wonderful guiding articles.

YIkEs! I will really think twice before I complain about our ice cost…
Glad the stitches healed well!

We have been living through a very injury prone season. IceCoach and I were wondering just today how many actual on ice hours myIceBoy has skated this year. The first was a fracture which healed fully, and the second was a sprained ligament and that as one commenter stated takes way longer than a clean break to heal. In fact it is going on 5 months now and there is still pain. After the first injury there wasn’t the fear factor, it was probably from over use. But the second happened while popping out of a jump. When he was able to get back on the ice, he was on orders not to jump for 6 weeks. When the six weeks were up, IC and I both saw the fear. It was hard to get through, but he did. By jumping mainly when IC was with him, he built up his confidence level. We talked about the fear and worked through some visualization and rationalization exercises, and let time do the healing as well. It’s still a work in progress, but he’s jumping all his doubles again (not 2A).Lost Fees: we had to lose one competition fee this year. I don’t sign up until the last minute usually, so we didn’t have to lose two fees thank goodness. I talked to one long-time mom and she said that she couldn’t count how many times she lost fees… We have punch cards, so we don’t lose money on ice time, but it’s also why I don’t pay a flat rate for the month. Just in case of injury or illness. As for skating on injuries. I highly recommend having an excellent Physical Therapist and an Excellent team of Sports Medicine Docs that you can go to, then utilize them when you are in doubt. Our PT says that she doesn’t see many sprained ankles any more, but people with sprains will really benefit from physical therapy strengthening exercises. A few people here mentioned the ease of re-injury. It’s expensive if you don’t have insurance, but you can just go to your PT and have them design you a program of exercises to strengthen week areas, in the long term you will end up saving money on future doctor appointments if you do this. As for skating on injuries–my IB is growing. He is growing fast. I will not allow him to skate on injuries that could cause him more damage. I will allow him to skate if the PT and the Doc clear him to. It’s a good lesson in patience and common sense. In the future at the higher levels, he may have to skate on injuries or when he has some kind of illness, but that will be for some really important event, and at his level (Intermediate) now it is not do or die. I tend to be conservative, but what good will it be if he skates now and wins, but messes up any future he has in the sport by doing so. It’s a long journey, injuries are part of it. How he deals with them now mentally and physically will help him in the future when more might be at stake. It’s just part of the sport. Speedy recovery to both girls!

My DH had this as a boy and currently another intermediate boy at our rink is dealing with this. We originally though that my IceBoy took after his father, but thank goodness it was just tendonitis.

OS will come and go in cycles as your boy grows as you probably know. One of our coaches at the rink (international pairs skater) said that every year from a certain month to a certain month, he would experience flare ups. He would skate in pain or some days wouldn’t skate at all. But then it would go away until the next year, and he could train fully.

The boy at our rink was out for about a month–either skating through pain or not skating at all and is now training for regionals pain free.

It’s a pain (literally) but many of our young athletes (boys and girls) go through this now. Many professionals think that it is because we expect so much of their young bodies when they are in their peak growing years.

Hopefully this cycle will be a short one, it is really hard to do anything well in pain.

Everyone is different, if this were my child, I would allow him to skate. The Docs and PTs I have spoken to, in general would allow someone with OS to skate. It really depends on the pain tolerance, and each individual’s OS case. My son will not skate through too much pain, so I would trust him to stop if it got too much for him.

Good luck to your IceBoy!

LOL, I’m still scared, every day. I have to really work hard at mentally saying “he’s going to nail that jump” instead of “don’t let him fall…”. I worry that my fatalistic energy will carry over the bad vibes to my IceBoy, so I really work at this.

Good for your kids, for being fearless (in a good way LOL)

Oh, and IceCoach always says that it is so very rare that someone will fall on their heads, so your DD already had her share. There will be no more head banging, be cheered…

Wow, STL-AdultSK8R. You’re amazing. I broke my wrist 10 years ago while roller skating and I haven’t been on wheels since. I really admire your fearlessness and determination!

Congratulations, too, on finishing your first practice dress! That’s a big achievement, too! Glad my posts helped!

It was 15 years ago. Yes I have injured it less often over the years – but had just put it down to much reduced activity? But thanks for the encouragement!!

My DD did not get a jump injury, but rather pulled a muscle when doing her spirals. Never mind that, she’s a brave kid. She continued doing spirals after few days of resting, lifting her legs even higher than before, even though she said it’s painful, but it was competition season so she couldn’t help it I suppose. It took more than 3 months for the muscle to stop aching completely whenever she does her spiral. Fast forward 6 months, she pulled her muscle, the same spot, yet again. It’s been another 6 months after injury now and she’s not recovered. She’s still practicing spirals. Should I be having a headache that despite injury, she’s continuing using that very muscle, or should I be relieved that she’s not afraid of it not recovering ever and still practicing? Tough kid.. but maybe too stubborn, not listening to her coach, physio and mummy. Sigh.

Thanks for the words of encouragement, and for saying you’d let your son skate. I’m letting my son skate, but of course I’m second guessing my decision since he’s in pain. He was thrilled when his doctor said he could continue to skate. This year will be his first trip to Regionals and he really didn’t want to miss out on that. From what I’ve read, there is a genetic component to this and both my husband and stepson had problems with OS. I’ve just ordered a book “Yoga for Healthy Knees” because I’m not the type of person who can just sit back and do nothing, well not nothing, we’re icing daily and using ibuprofen, but I want to be more proactive.

Thanks Karen,
Yes I already read this, and for the most part he’s already doing this. For self MSM a foam roller is used, and he already rolls his hamstrings and quads. He also stretches before skating, and I’ve just started having him stretch after skating.
Lynne

Thanks for all the good advice – mostly it’s just nice to know I’m not alone! Here’s the update – apparently the ER doc didn’t know what he was looking at. There is a fracture in her ankle, in or near the growth plate so they had to cast her whole leg! The good news (well, it’s not good news of course) is that there is no gray area here – she will be in the cast for 4-6 weeks. All her competitions (including Regionals – it would have been her first!) are out. Frankly I’m relieved that any decision about that was taken from us. This way when she’s released to skate, there is no pressure – she can take the time she needs to rebuild her strength (and her jumps) and get ready for next season. It’s sad, of course but we are hoping the time off might rid her of the bad habits that were getting in the way of her landing her double toe. Maybe we’ll have smooth sailing in November… (We can dream, can’t we?) It’s going to be strange without skating (and dance and basketball)… I did call to see if I’d get any entry fees refunded (though none of them are obligated since we were past the deadline) and at least one competition is returning my check. I’m still hoping at least one of the other two may follow suit as well. I hope there is a post on Regionals (hint, hint Ice Mom!) so those of you who are competing (or whose kids are competing) can update us on how it goes. I’ll need to live vicariously through all of you for the rest of the season!

Thanks for the update. I think my daughter was in that same group and that was a scary moment–also sad as I know how hard all the kids work and prepare. Best wishes for a speedy recovery and I’m sure we’ll see her next season.

My dd is such a careful skater, she does not fall much. Of course this holds her back in her progress a little. When she does fall, it is usually a hard fall (though nothing more than a bandaid or a bag of ice to take care of it). I follow her coaches cue – having her “skate it off” by just stroking around the rink. The times where she can’t skate right away (like when her breath got knocked out), she gets right back on the ice as soon as she can. I tell her to not let the ice beat her. The last time she was injured, I did not know about it until she came off the ice when the session was over – she handled it herself rinkside. (I was doing work on my laptop in the lobby.)

I know exactly what you mean about being relieved that there’s no gray area w/being in a cast for 4-6 weeks – still a bummer but at least the decision was made for you! Hopefully you will get most of your comp fees back, you’d think with a doctors note that most will refund you your fees. My daughter hated learning double toes too – what is it about that jump for some skaters? A lot of skaters at our rink have had trouble with it…. My daughter’s friend took forever to learn it, finally only got it because they went to a secondary coach for help. It may be nice to get a break from skating, take that money and go get yourself a massage or a mani/pedi!!! :~D

i broke my fibula skating. ouch – it really hurt – i would know because it was today.

It’s good you kept her off the ice after a concussion. My daughter had a concussion about a year ago after she had just landed her axel a few times. She cried hard but then, after a break, she pulled herself together and finished the lesson. We tend to applaud this tough spirit but it is not always wise. Later after she complained of headache, I got worried and took her to the doctor. They diagnosed a mild concussion and had guidelines about when she could skate again and they even stressed that she should go easy on herself mentally with schoolwork for awhile.

About the same time this happened, there was a highschool football player who made the news because he had suffered a head injury and did not take time off even though he was complaining of headache and was putting his head down on his desk during class. He played football again two days later, got hit in the head again, collapsed and DIED. It is called second impact syndrome.

So be very careful with head injuries. I probably should not have let her back on the ice after hurting her head but I did not know any better then.

I have never had a go-to-hospital injury in skating (had a few that probably should at least been ace bandaged, but stubborn child I am, I hide the pain), and in fact have only had one go-to-hospital injury in my entire life, a broken arm from falling off the horse. No stitches, no sprains, no nothing.

My most recent bad injury was slamming my right hip into the ice, one of those freak falls. Was entering a flip, never even got into the air. My whole leg from the hip down went completely numb and my hip felt weird, like it wasn’t connected right. I kept skating for the rest of the session (about an hour), took an ibuprofen, went into another session to have my lesson. Still couldn’t feel my leg but was landing jumps anyway.. just trusted that my blade would land and glide, even if I couldn’t feel the landing.

Yeah, yeah, stupid. Numbness and extremely sore hip indicates something that needs to be rested. But, nooo, I skate two more hours, then competed two days later. Ice time is so incredibly precious to me (I skate twice a week for a total of four hours spread out over the week) that I will not get off the ice unless I am profusely bleeding, cannot walk, or am about to puke. (None of those have actually happened, but those are my rules.) I will even scramble up from bad falls really quickly, because I’m wasting thirty seconds that I could’ve done three salchows in.
When I was a beginner, I fell backwards on a dip and landed on my arm in a weird twisted way. Thought it was broken, decided it wasn’t a few minutes later. I was given an ice pack from one of the coaches and came back the next week to skate. For months afterwards, my arm was sore when I had to use it.
A couple of months ago I was at a camp exhibition and fell on my knee. I had to do my solo program right afterwards, and ignoring that I could barely walk, went on and did a great solo. (I didn’t break my rules, btw. I could still walk. Just not very well.)

My first flip after the hip injury, I had a moment of “oh my god” when entering it, but did it anyway (I had to do them in my lesson with coach.) If I were in practice, I probably would not have gone through with it. My coach watching does funny things.. all fear disappears, with a steely resolution to show her that I am not afraid of falling.. she seems to think so and has thought so the entire time she’s coached me.

As for horseback riding, not once have I ever felt a twinge of fear or loss of confidence when getting back on after a fall. But I’ve been doing it my whole life, and I am rarely around people who are better than me.

She didn’t want to throw in the towel on this season. I did notice yesterday that this has made her MUCH more hesitant on her double axels. So much so, that her jump coach is getting angry with her. I understand where he’s coming from, it’s frustrating watching a skater who is capable of a jump, but isn’t willing to attempt it. But I feel she just has to have time to get over the fear, and anger directed at her isn’t going to help.

My best understanding about this broken bone is, since it’s a floating bone, it’s not going to “heal” back together, and can’t suffer any worse injury… so that’s why she’s only limited by the pain. Unfortunately the pain doesn’t seem to be lessening. We’re almost to the point where, as the parent, I think I may have to just pull the plug on the season.

Hi

I can’t offer any advice. But I do need lots of advice. My skating mad 17 year old was hit by a car whilst waiting for a bus near our home in London. She was skating 20-30 hours a week. She lives for her skating. We have been very lucky in some ways. She has a fractured both tibia and tibia on both legs. She had a seven hour operation to put her legs back together. We are now in ICU waiting to have her collar bone fixed. All she wants to know is when she she will skate again. I know it is going to be a very long haul, but we are going to try and do the best for her.

So sorry, Kimturner, to hear that your daughter has been in such a terrible accident. I wish her a good recovery.

I am 14 and broke my growthplate, being stupid landing on my ankle instead of the ice when I fell ( I ended up sitting on my ankle) I was off of the ice for 3 months total, 1 month in a cast, 1 month in a boot, the next month in physical therapy. I don’t know if my doctors were just being thurough but this is the longest broken ankle recoup I’ve ever heard of! I didn’t have to deal with fear as it wasn’t associated with a specific element or anything but I missed the ice very much!

also, since it was the growth plate, I was able to get off the ice (slowly, I did a weird toe push thing with the broken side) I then walked to the coaches room, where I iced it, then got to the car with moderate pain, by bedtime, I was barely able to walk on it, which is when we decided we would go to the ER the next day.

Injuries are difficult to face which disturbs our daily routine and due to these injuries situation we are not able to work properly as we are able to do without injury.