Why I finally left skating as an older adult.

[lilicedreamer]

My knees got me, and then my back and then I found that I couldn't move well.  Despite the fact that I was a skater before age 11, I had gotten that jerky marionette look that seems to plague adult skaters.  One woman at my rink broke her wrist before me, and then came back to skate again.  Then a few years down the road she broke her wrist again.

Adults are plagued by injuries when they fall.  We all know in skating it's not "if" you fall, it's "when."  I love skating and still would do it if my body would only cooperate.
Is there anyone out there injury plagued like me?

[slcbelle]

My knees got me, and then my back and then I found that I couldn't move well.  Despite the fact that I was a skater before age 11, I had gotten that jerky marionette look that seems to plague adult skaters.  One woman at my rink broke her wrist before me, and then came back to skate again.  Then a few years down the road she broke her wrist again.

Adults are plagued by injuries when they fall.  We all know in skating it's not "if" you fall, it's "when."  I love skating and still would do it if my body would only cooperate.
Is there anyone out there injury plagued like me?

Fortunately, I'm haven't had injuries but broken wrists, tailbones, and concussions are always on my mind.  So, I wear protection.  We have skaters at our rink in their 80s.  They wear helmets, wrist guards...even knee pads.  If you love skating, keep at it!  Just protect yourself from falls.  Perhaps one needs to change what elements to skate and the amount of risk to take but I find my 70-80+ year old skating friends to be an inspiration.  They aren't fast or quick anymore but they sure seem happy and are doing far more than many other people their age.

[lilicedreamer]

I agree in some respects, but I used to have someone who would care for me if I were injured and now they're gone.  So I'm in this city all alone and the idea that I could be injured is daunting, when you consider my responsibilities.  I sound like a skating mom!  Most of them would never risk it for fear they'd lose everything if they couldn't work.

[slcbelle]

Well, when you put it that way, I see your point completely. 

Sometimes I think about getting injured when my husband is away and, with the dogs are at home, I wonder how long it would be until I'd get back to them and who has a key to let them out and could I drive with a broken _____ (fill in the blank) and would I ever get back out on the ice and would I be too afraid and what if I fell on my blade somehow and the blade got stuck in my thigh or if my teeth got knocked out and...I have an active imagination.

[PinkLaces]

(Fingers in ears) LA-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. I've noticed that adult skaters like to tell newbies about their injuries they got while skating.  I think it can be a bit over exaggerated and I try not to listen to it.

The majority of times I fall I am not injured. If I feel that I  am falling, I just go with it and roll to the side making sure to keep my head up. It's when I try to stop it that I hurt myself.

Are you worried about falling and hurting yourself or have you fallen and hurt yourself so many times that you are giving up?

[Willowway]

It's very much an individual decision and each skater has his/her own tolerance for physical risk and pain. I respect folks who make the decisions that are best for themselves whichever way it goes. I skate regularly at 66 and so far I pretty much bounce when I'm on ice (or about to sit on it!). I started skating at age 60 - skates and group lessons were a gift to myself for my 60th. Not to say I don't have bumps and bruises but nothing dire.

Now, at home I'm just dangerous - a fall in the garage while putting out the garbage led to knee surgery (torn meniscus - 6 months off the ice but I'm back) and in October I fell down the uncarpeted stairs (my own fault for multi-tasking) and really bruised my hip badly. And yes, I live alone and when I landed at the bottom of the stairs did think about how I was going to get help if I needed it. Nothing broken and I managed just fine once I caught my breath - darn lucky.

The way I look at at it - there will come a point, sooner than I would like, when I really cannot skate because of age or illness but until then I will skate and I'll enjoy every minute of it. I don't want to sound saccharine or like a Hallmark card but when I fall and get up, I am consciously very grateful that I still can - and I know that skating makes me stronger, improves my balance and definitely enhances my point of view about being 66.  It will end one day but not today.

[Neverdull44]

We each make our own decision on when to quit (or take up something new).   I am going through my mid-life crisis at 45.  Instead of buying a sports car and cheating on my husband (LOL), I have reignited my love of figure skating.  I have also taken up guitar and ballet for the first time in my life.  While you may not be able to skate, you are here contributing to the knowledge of skating.   That's a big plus.  Are there things you can do with your skating club, like volunteer at testing or competitions?  Have you tried a ballet class or considered another hobby? 

[icedancer]

I am also wondering what constitutes "older adult"?  I skated as a kid until I was 14 and took it up again at around 34 in a big way!  I'm 59 now and although I have suffered from injuries on and off the ice I can't see myself quitting any time soon.

I rarely if ever fall - and am not so worried if I do - but I also don't do anything "risky" - I have found other ways to enjoy skating - by becoming a judge and getting more involved with the local skating community - a lot of my friends are skaters (in fact I would consider some of the skaters amongst my best friends!) - and also the coaches, parents, etc. - some have even become clients of mine and so we are ever more interwoven -

I don't see myself quitting skating any time soon - I have considered it but know how good it is for my health as well - especially when I see others my age and younger - I am so lucky to skate and stay strong as long as possible! 

It is frustrating to not be able to do things on the ice that I used to - a lot of us find that as we get older our expectations for what we are able to accomplish on the ice have to change - not being able to do most of the dances without a partner anymore - not having a partner - doing parts of dances, steps and moves that used to feel easy - now, not so much.

There is still nothing like the feeling of the smooth ice under the blades -

I hope to keep this going for a long long time!

[fsk8r]

I dream of still being able to skate when I'm in my 70s. Most of them are plagued with injuries which aren't caused by the ice but just by old age, but I can say for certain they're a lot more spritely than others their age.
While you might not have the same skills as the young children you can still enjoy the sense of freedom that skating gives.

[AgnesNitt]

I'm 62.

My experience with skating is that to keep skating you have to do more than skating to keep in shape.  Adults lose muscle tone faster than kids. It takes effort to keep in shape. Skating alone will not get you into shape. And you need to wear protective gear.

What I do:
a. Lift weights twice a week. And I don't mean little dinky weights.
b. Walk (I can't run yet) 2.5 miles several days a week.
c. Wear wrist guards and knee pads every time I skate. I used to wear elbow protection, but I learned to fall better.
d. I have a realistic view of my reflexes. They aren't as fast as a kids. I'll never do doubles.
e. I lap skate regularly. That is, I skate to build up both speed and stamina and muscle tone.
f. I practice figure skater posture every single minute of every single day.

If I skated everyday, I'd be a much better skater. This is something adults seem to forget. Kids not only have faster reflexes, but they skate every.single.day.

I've got meniscus tears in my knees, arthritis in one hip, compression fractures in my spine, If I can skate, I think any adult can skate.

[4711]

Well, when you put it that way, I see your point completely. 

Sometimes I think about getting injured when my husband is away and, with the dogs are at home, I wonder how long it would be until I'd get back to them and who has a key to let them out and could I drive with a broken _____ (fill in the blank) and would I ever get back out on the ice and would I be too afraid and what if I fell on my blade somehow and the blade got stuck in my thigh or if my teeth got knocked out and...I have an active imagination.

Probably not a bad idea to put a backup plan in place 'in case of emergency' even if you don't do it while skating.

[AgnesNitt]

I agree in some respects, but I used to have someone who would care for me if I were injured and now they're gone.  So I'm in this city all alone and the idea that I could be injured is daunting, when you consider my responsibilities.  I sound like a skating mom!  Most of them would never risk it for fear they'd lose everything if they couldn't work.

There is no one to look after me. Not.one.single.person.
I could be injured in a car accident. I could slip on ice in bad weather. Someone could attack me during my evening walks. I could be hit by a car while crossing the street. I've survived cancer surgery, a broken ankle, and the retribution of horseback injuries from the 80's. I'm able to look after myself after those. And if I'm so injured I can't get myself to the can, I'd figure out how to handle it. I signed up for home health care insurance a decade ago.

Probably not a bad idea to put a backup plan in place 'in case of emergency' even if you don't do it while skating.

When I'm on ice without my coach I carry my wallet with my VA card and my insurance card in my pocket. Skating at a regular rink and making casual acquaintances means that if I hurt myself the staff knows me and there are other adults (including the SD) who knows me.  If you have dogs or kids, carry a card that says "In case of Emergency".

[Query]

I've told my story here too many times here, but I certainly did think myself injury prone. I had most of my injuries backpacking - an endless string of ankle sprains or strains, and a march fracture of a metatarsal. Then I fractured a fibula skating, during a fall, a bit over age 40, though I now believe the injury actually occurred before the impact, and was caused by excess muscle tension due to fear of falling, rather than the fall itself.

For half a year I was in a cast. For the next year I psychologically couldn't make myself go back on the ice. But I did make myself work on falling gently, and even took a couple lessons - one from an Aikido master, one from a modern dancer. Eventually, after an unbelievable number of hours spent in practice I reached the point where I didn't think I could be hurt falling as long as I am wearing some type of gloves and long sleeves and pants. 

A little over-confident, perhaps. OK, for sure. There are always ways to get hurt. But with practice, athletic injuries can be reduced to a level of probability comparable to being hurt in some other way. That's a reasonable goal, that could give you the confidence to go back to having fun.

What fall practice (and hockey-kid-like collision practice) taught me was that I wasn't injury prone because of my body, I was injury prone because I was moving badly, and was responding to potential injury situations with fear. It also improved my reflex speed, and altered my reflexes to move better.

Any book on athletic injuries will tell you that the people most likely to be injured are unusually inflexible or unusually flexible. I'm inflexible. In that way only was I truly physically injury prone. So I also needed to learn to move in ways that isn't a problem. People with extreme flexibility need to learn to move in ways that full and partial dislocations don't happen, and a few other such things. A sports PT can help.

I went back to skating, skiing, some hiking, and whitewater boating, and tried some new sports, though I started too late to become a high level athlete. I'm close to 60 now, and have only suffered minor scrapes and bruises and one pulled muscle since fall practice - and those only because of the things I've dared to try that I hadn't dared before.

It helps to understand why injuries happen. E.g., knee, wrist, elbow, shoulder and back injuries happen because you impact on hard bone, or don't flow through a fall, or because you fight it so hard that muscle tension bends bone. (There are some repetitive motion injuries too, like cartilage injuries, especially if you move with poor alignment - again, sports PTs can help, and detect problems early.)

(At my website, I have a not-so-short treatise on falling gently.)

I had gotten that jerky marionette look that seems to plague adult skaters.

A lot of athletes who are very good young have to scale back their athletic aspirations as they get older.

I can "flow" much better now than I could before fall practice, and look better than most of the adults I encounter in public skating. But when I see almost any "senior level" skater (how can a 16 or 17 year old kid be called a "senior"?) they have a flow, balance, flexibility, power and control that I can only dream of.

I never had that kind of grace, but perhaps you did.

If you still feel a need for it, it may be a lost cause. Youth does have advantages. But if you are willing to work on falls and collisions, and/or other methods of injury prevention, and are willing to wear gloves and a reasonably well padded sweat suit (and other padding if you feel a need), you may still be able to skate with confidence, and more flow than most adults.

If you do give up skating, I hope you find a way to keep yourself active. If you are like me, it is one of the things I find most enjoyable in life.

Social dance? If you don't join the competitive side of things, social dance is a very friendly and accepting community.

Depending on your location, I might also suggest paddling club-based sea kayaking, but that might be hard on your back. (A 20-35 pound skin-on-frame kayak is easier to carry, and it may be shaped with a high enough area above year knees to let you sit straight without back strain, and shaped to allow you to lay on the back deck without trouble, would help, but maybe sitting inside the boat at all is too much for you.)

[ONskater74]

Well, I'm just recovering from an OFF ice un-fall. I slipped while carrying stuff in both hands and tried to catch myself, wrecked my back and sacroiliac in one handy swoop. If I had just let go and fallen I'd have a bruise or two and just carry on as normal. Now it is twice a week to chiro can't dance, can;t skate, can't lift. It is better but still a ways to go.

So life is risky period. If you want to live in fear then everything will become daunting. I agree with those who suggest protective gear, if it makes you feel safer, then wear it. I don't have anybody to care for me either, I have a physically demanding job, and if I lose it I'm homeless and penniless is 2 months. So I try to be careful skating. I may never land that axel, I may never do much of anything, but I love the feeling of skating so much that I hope to always do it.

Willowway and Agnes.....    Ummm.... I wish you gals were in my country closer to me   

[AgnesNitt]

ONSkater

((HUGS))

[ChristyRN]

I had two falls last month within a week of each other. The first was on ice. The dreaded Click 'O Death. Wham! Right onto the left knee for the most part. Mild pain and bruising on the medial right knee. Six days later at work, I tripped over a cable I'd stepped over for NINE hours. Right onto my left knee. Added a totally new set of bruises.  And considerably more pain.

I'm 50. When I fall, I do a quick head to toe assessment to make sure I'm ok before I get up. The hardest part of getting up right now is the fact that my left knee is still sore when I put pressure on it and it's the knee I put on the ice to get up.

And as far as on-ice injuries, I've broken an ankle (14 weeks and 1 day off ice) a wrist (no time missed--I skated with the cast) at least three concussions, and we won't even begin to add up bruises.

[ONskater74]

AgnesNitt, Hugs feel great!

Is the smiley suggesting you are ready to work on a throw axel and need a partner? 

[Willowway]

Thanks ONskater - it would great if we could all be dangerous (mostly to ourselves) together!!

[AgnesNitt]

AgnesNitt, Hugs feel great!

Is the smiley suggesting you are ready to work on a throw axel and need a partner? 

It might be more likely if I threw you!  You're young and have good knees. I'm old and have .... persistence!   

[ONskater74]

Hmmm, throwing me? Well, I'm light 

I can hear the growl of a  hungry cougar just out of sight. Then without warning she springs from out of nowhere throwing me down and pouncing on me...

[rosereedy]

I had a bad fall in March that fully tore my ligamentum teres and tore my labrum in my right hip. Needed surgery and it will never be the same. I'm only 32, 33 next month. I just started back but will never be able to jump doubles again because I lost that ligament.

[Tigerstein]

I'm not an adult but I've had some kinda bad falls. One day I was going pretty fast and hit a rut, fell, and stabbed my wrist and was really glad it didn't go in very far. I once fell on my tailbone (for me falling on that seems to hurt the most) and walking hurt, I don't have a low pain tolerance. I've also had bruises all up my leg before...
There is a skater at my rink who is around 84 and doesn't wear any type of protection and the one time I've seen her fall (a hockey boy ran into her!) I was so scared she was hurt, she was fine though (she's one tough lady)!

[lilicedreamer]

Well, when you put it that way, I see your point completely. 

Sometimes I think about getting injured when my husband is away and, with the dogs are at home, I wonder how long it would be until I'd get back to them and who has a key to let them out and could I drive with a broken _____ (fill in the blank) and would I ever get back out on the ice and would I be too afraid and what if I fell on my blade somehow and the blade got stuck in my thigh or if my teeth got knocked out and...I have an active imagination.

This is my point, I needed a surgery that took me away from being able to do anything for myself for about 8 days.  And after that I drove with a cast and stayed home and took care of the house.  There is no guarantee that I will be able to do that again!  It depends on how serious the injury is.  That's why I left.

[irenar5]

This whole thread is depressing

[Rachelsk8s]

I had a bad fall in March that fully tore my ligamentum teres and tore my labrum in my right hip. Needed surgery and it will never be the same. I'm only 32, 33 next month. I just started back but will never be able to jump doubles again because I lost that ligament.

Awh Roseyhebert!!! ((( hugs ))) I know I don't know you nor do you know me but I just opened up to this thread, first one I read today on skating forums, and I read your post I'm your age and i just wanted to say I'm so sorry about your fall. That's gotta be so hard, but I'm glad to hear you are able to skate!! It made me think honestly for a minute, ( as I have in the last but not seriously I guess) about what I'd do if I couldn't skate, it's my therapy most days!!