Chronic knee pain/tendonitis after using crutches

[planman]

Some of y'all are aware I broke my ankle kind bad (plate and screws, detached ligament, etc.) a couple years ago and was on crutches for ~4 months.

Since then I've had pain in my opposite knee, although for a good while it didn't ever bother me that much and only flared up sometimes, like when I'd run out of a trick and land hard on my right leg, but it'd be back to normal in a day tops. Over time though, it's gotten worse and eventually it got to the point where I'd wear a knee brace every time I go skate, and now I just wear it every day regardless because it hurts at least a little bit 90% of the time. Talked to one of my skate friends and went back n forth with Tay in the DMs for a bit about it, and I'm almost certain it's tendonitis.

Have any of you guys had similar experiences after lengthier stints on crutches or deal with knee tendonitis in general? Shit's got me bummed out and it's pretty backasswards that my (previously) healthy knee is giving me more problems than my ankle that I focused, especially since I'm still young as fuck. Haven't seen a doctor about it yet, half because I live in the States and it's potentially expensive as hell and half because I'm a lazy shit, but that's probably the next step to be taking instead of looking to SLAPCare, right?

Sorry if I sound like a broken record, I know I've brought this up in a couple other threads, just thought it might be beneficial to give this one it's own. I'd like to skate for as long as I can and figured skating on a bad knee for two years isn't helping.

[Roisto]

I’ve had problems with my left knee for a while. It kinda got annoyed if I didn’t warm it up properly. Sharp pain while doing an ollie for example. I’m regular so it’s my non dominant hopping leg.

Then I broke my tibia and fibula on my left leg 2.5 years ago. Surgery through the knee to insert a titanium rod inside the tibia. After the surgery the physical therapy was focused only on getting me to walk normally again which left my left leg fucked more than I thought. Then a year ago the titanium rod and most of the screws were removed because one of the screws was rubbing at some muscle or joint on the side of my knee causing discomfort especially with exercise.

After that I had awesome physical therapy for almost a year to fix all the issues I had with my leg from before and after the removal surgery too. My knee was a big issue even with the physical therapy. “It’s normal and nothing to worry about” was all the doc and physical therapist said. Took an MRI and nothing wrong there.

As I got very little help with my knee, I started paying more attention to how I was using it and noticed that for example when stranding up I was bending it all weird because the leg wasn’t nearly as strong as my healthy one and I had been trying to use both equally for standing up. Trying to fix this by paying more attention to it helped a bunch. The knee still isn’t pain free though.

One last thing I’ve paid attention to just in the last month or so are all the scars from surgery that I have. Some of them are bound to the tissues underneath the skin because that’s what happens after surgery unless you massage them properly to get them to separate. I did this a bit but then kinda forgot about it as the scars binding didn’t restrict my normal movements anymore. Anyway, I’ve been massaging them to try to detach them now. It’s a slow ass process and doesn’t feel pleasant at all but I have a feeling already that it’s helping as my muscles aren’t being pulled in directions they should not be that much anymore.

Long story and not exactly similar to yours but from what you described I think one thing could be that you’ve been overcompensating with your stronger leg and doing it a bit wonky which ends up hurting your knee. I feel that it’s the similar as with skating. Minor things can have massive effects. Like minor foot placement changes on the board can mean a clean land on a trick vs. looking like you’re not even close, doing something even a bit wrong in walking and getting up etc. because your body is out of balance due to past trauma and how that weakens your muscles can have a massive effect on something else in your body.

So I’d say try to pay close attention to how balanced you use your body for everyday things and any physical activity. It might not be easy to notice but is doable IMO. Anyway, good luck with it and I hope you get it sorted. I know how god damn annoying such things can be.

[LesbianPUNCH]

No helpful advice here, just sharing war stories I guess. About 15 years ago I broke my knee cap and probably did more internal damage that wasn’t properly dealt with due to no health insurance. Poor family. Walked on crutches for nearly six months, didn’t skate for over a year. When I came back to it, recovery was unbearably slow and my skating changed entirely. Used to be able to pop Nollie/switch like a mother fucker, nollie into waist high ledges. Lost all strength entirely.

Eventually, I got back to a competent level, skated more transition, figured shit out. I also experienced overcorrection/irony of life shit because my other knee is now plagued with perpetual popping, locking up, soreness. My fucked knee is stronger than ever and my intact knee gives me chronic pain just walking up and down stairs. Even popping an Ollie up a curb nowadays gives me anxiety. 32 years old. Seeing tony hawk boardslide a ten stair at 50 makes my heart sink.

[jtrpma]

leg injuries tend to fuck up your posture and cause more damage in other parts.

i had a surgery after a big sublux on my ankle a few years ago and didn't do proper physio for a long time. therefore i had a limp that fucked up my knee.

i got it back in check with careful workouts, yoga and generally taking better care of all joints from ankles, knees to back, etc.

treat everything "above" the injury is the secret.

good luck