well I suppose I knew that it had to happen eventually, but I now have my very first bad injury that's gonna keep me from training for a while, and boy do I feel stupid!

My instructor had me going up and down the hall - two spinning snaps two counter snaps, easy enough right? about half way through, in the middle of a spinning snap, it's hard to drescribe but its almost as if my thigh tried to go one way, my lower leg tried to go the other, and my knee got caught in the middle. I dropped to the floor like a sack of pototoes and couldn't move it for a good few minutes, my instructor had to drag me off the floor to get me onto a chair, it was rediculous, I felt so let down by my body.

My instructor thinks I've just probably badly sprained a ligament, but it didnt stop him texting me three times last night to check I was okay, and he wants regular updates over the weekend to keep tabs on me.

I think the worst thing is that I'm an active person, and not being able to move around properly is like torture. Im currently hobbling around like a little old lady.

has anyone else here had an injury like this? how long did it take before you were back to full strength?

thanks guys,

tracey xxx

Tracey, don't take advice from anyone on a forum board about injuries.  Especially knee and spinal injuries.  Ask a professional for their advice and get the thing checked out.  When it comes to joints and the spine, you don't want to be "guessing at what to do". 

Narcsarge is 100% correct on this! Get yourself checked out by an honest-to-goodness doctor. The rest of us (including your instructor) are just guessing as to what it might be.

please do.  also if neccesary i know a good chiropracter that helped me with my hip and lower back.  but its way safer to go to a doctor first.

Get some proper advice hun! Our instructor happens to be a fully qualified physio so if anything bad ever happens to us we can get decent advice straight away - but I know that's not the case with everyone!

WHile you're waiting to get seen though, keep your weight off our knee as much as possible, when you're sat down keep it elevated and if it's swollen, use ice on it. But most physios etc can give you that advice over the phone when you call for an appt...

Most of all, think positive, don't dwell on it and do stuf to take your mind off it that will make you laugh. Laughing produces natural endorphins and that helps the body heal itself quicker.

Good luck! x

I hope that you get better faster,  and follow what Sarge said.

Wow that stinks. Make sure to get it checked out by a Doc. I hope its not serious. Take care

Sarge has the right advice.  Go to a doctor and get it checked out.  I dislocated my kneecap in a similar way and it hurt like crazy.  I went to a chiropractor who discovered it after I told him what happened.

went to our local minor injury clinic, although I think I may have been fobbed off a little, she just wanted to get rid of me and move onto the next patient.

all she told me was to ice it and that it might take anything up to a couple of months to heal, sssooo not helpful! I am not a person with zero medical training, I have had nursing training, and most of my formative years when I wasn't at TKD I was a st john's ambulance cadet. Even I would have expected a little more indepth examination and explination than that, and I know what the NHS is like!

tracey xxx

Yes that's good (that you know there's more to be done). In the couple of months that it'll take to heal you'll get muscle wastage, some muscles could turn off and won't reactivate once the healing process is complete and others will be working harder to compensate for those that have turned off making them prone to injury. Additionally there is the scarring tissue to deal with within the injury itself. 

Any injury needs some sort of therapy during the healing process (even if it's as simple as massaging to break down the scar tissue.)

It would be helpful to get a referal from your doctor to see a physiotherapist if not  a chiro can assist with this sort of thing as well.

Knee ligaments are really imporatant for doing stuff so you should follow this one through as best you can to assure full recovery,

Currently I've have a micro tear in my cruciate ligament just about healed up, chiro sorted it for me a couple of weeks ago and recomended some post consultation work to do on it. It was no big deal but I'm careful about my knees.