Pinching in leg when entering scratch spin?

[AlySkates]

Hello! This is my first post so apologies if I'm missing anything. I am an adult skater and have been skating for the past 1.5 years or so. I started working on my scratch spin about 6 months ago and have trouble keeping it consistent, but every once in a while can do a really good one. Problem is that just in the past month I have had an issue when pulling in my free leg about 30% of the time I attempt a scratch spin. Right as I enter and start to pull my leg in, I feel a pinch somewhere in my upper leg/butt area and then my foot immediately gets pins and needles and stays that way for 20-30 min. It pretty much messes up the whole rest of my session.

The pinch isn't super painful and does not last at all past that moment, but it always throws off the spin (or maybe whatever I do to cause it is what throws off the spin). I have not noticed any long-term leg pain or numbness, and I cannot even really identify where the pinch is happening. I have no clue what causes this and why it only happens some of the time, I just really want to figure it out so I can avoid it.

Has anyone else experienced this? Could it be related to whether my leg is turned out or how fast I pull in? I am seeking help from a physical therapist but she does not know the mechanics of skating and various spins so would love to hear if anyone has advice!

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Hello! This is my first post so apologies if I'm missing anything. I am an adult skater and have been skating for the past 1.5 years or so. I started working on my scratch spin about 6 months ago and have trouble keeping it consistent, but every once in a while can do a really good one. Problem is that just in the past month I have had an issue when pulling in my free leg about 30% of the time I attempt a scratch spin. Right as I enter and start to pull my leg in, I feel a pinch somewhere in my upper leg/butt area and then my foot immediately gets pins and needles and stays that way for 20-30 min. It pretty much messes up the whole rest of my session.

The pinch isn't super painful and does not last at all past that moment, but it always throws off the spin (or maybe whatever I do to cause it is what throws off the spin). I have not noticed any long-term leg pain or numbness, and I cannot even really identify where the pinch is happening. I have no clue what causes this and why it only happens some of the time, I just really want to figure it out so I can avoid it.

Has anyone else experienced this? Could it be related to whether my leg is turned out or how fast I pull in? I am seeking help from a physical therapist but she does not know the mechanics of skating and various spins so would love to hear if anyone has advice!

You need a sports med Dr to check that out.

 

[gliese]

I agree with @Ic3Rabbit. You need a doctor. Not an internet forum.

 

[AlySkates]

I agree with @Ic3Rabbit. You need a doctor. Not an internet forum.

I completely agree that I need a doctor! Like I mentioned in the post, I have a PT and she is trying to diagnose the issue. That being said, she is not a figure skating expert and neither is anyone that my insurance covers so I posted this looking to see if anyone else has experienced this and knows what causes it, not for a professional diagnosis. I thought it was pretty clear that I wasn't coming here for actual medical advice, but in case it wasn't I still want to point out that it's not really helpful to say "you need a doctor" on a post where I've mentioned that I am already seeking medical assistance from a doctor, and it's probably better if you just don't comment at all, or you provide some advice that is actually attempting to be helpful like the comment above you who specifically mentioned a sports med doctor.

For anyone else seeing this thread, my goal is to find out if anyone has struggled with the same thing and was able to identify what specific movement triggers this, since I cannot pinpoint it and it would be helpful for me to communicate that with my PT.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

I completely agree that I need a doctor! Like I mentioned in the post, I have a PT and she is trying to diagnose the issue. That being said, she is not a figure skating expert and neither is anyone that my insurance covers so I posted this looking to see if anyone else has experienced this and knows what causes it, not for a professional diagnosis. I thought it was pretty clear that I wasn't coming here for actual medical advice, but in case it wasn't I still want to point out that it's not really helpful to say "you need a doctor" on a post where I've mentioned that I am already seeking medical assistance from a doctor, and it's probably better if you just don't comment at all, or you provide some advice that is actually attempting to be helpful like the comment above you who specifically mentioned a sports med doctor.

For anyone else seeing this thread, my goal is to find out if anyone has struggled with the same thing and was able to identify what specific movement triggers this, since I cannot pinpoint it and it would be helpful for me to communicate that with my PT.

As a professional skater, and one that competed at the elite level, you don't need a PT to diagnose, you need a Sports Medicine Doctor. Even if one of us had a similar injury, we can't give you any help on that. A Sports Medicine Dr is trained to know the sports and diagnose this issue, then they send you to the PT with orders for additional therapy help. I wish you luck and hope that you are able to get the help that you need from the doctor so you don't have to experience this. I know I wasn't the one that you quoted, but as someone that has had extensive injuries from skating and has seen enough SM doctors in my lifetime, this is coming as a sincere statement that that type of doctor is the first step.

Good luck!

 

[AlySkates]

As a professional skater, and one that competed at the elite level, you don't need a PT to diagnose, you need a Sports Medicine Doctor. Even if one of us had a similar injury, we can't give you any help on that. A Sports Medicine Dr is trained to know the sports and diagnose this issue, then they send you to the PT with orders for additional therapy help. I wish you luck and hope that you are able to get the help that you need from the doctor so you don't have to experience this. I know I wasn't the one that you quoted, but as someone that has had extensive injuries from skating and has seen enough SM doctors in my lifetime, this is coming as a sincere statement that that type of doctor is the first step.

Good luck!

I appreciate your thoughtful response! This is good to know, and not something I had put much thought into because I told my coach about the issue and she just told me to check in with my PT and just let her know if it ever starts to hurt more than it does now. it seems like the general culture at my rink is to not take pain too seriously unless it's a major issue, which I know is not a particularly healthy mindset, so I'll ask around and see if there are any recommendations for a sports medicine dr in my area.

 

[gliese]

I completely agree that I need a doctor! Like I mentioned in the post, I have a PT and she is trying to diagnose the issue. That being said, she is not a figure skating expert and neither is anyone that my insurance covers so I posted this looking to see if anyone else has experienced this and knows what causes it, not for a professional diagnosis. I thought it was pretty clear that I wasn't coming here for actual medical advice, but in case it wasn't I still want to point out that it's not really helpful to say "you need a doctor" on a post where I've mentioned that I am already seeking medical assistance from a doctor, and it's probably better if you just don't comment at all, or you provide some advice that is actually attempting to be helpful like the comment above you who specifically mentioned a sports med doctor.

A physical therapist is not the same as a sports med doctor (or even just a family medicine doctor). A physical therapists job is to treat diagnosed injuries. Not to diagnose them.

 

[froo]

Hello! This is my first post so apologies if I'm missing anything. I am an adult skater and have been skating for the past 1.5 years or so. I started working on my scratch spin about 6 months ago and have trouble keeping it consistent, but every once in a while can do a really good one. Problem is that just in the past month I have had an issue when pulling in my free leg about 30% of the time I attempt a scratch spin. Right as I enter and start to pull my leg in, I feel a pinch somewhere in my upper leg/butt area and then my foot immediately gets pins and needles and stays that way for 20-30 min. It pretty much messes up the whole rest of my session.

The pinch isn't super painful and does not last at all past that moment, but it always throws off the spin (or maybe whatever I do to cause it is what throws off the spin). I have not noticed any long-term leg pain or numbness, and I cannot even really identify where the pinch is happening. I have no clue what causes this and why it only happens some of the time, I just really want to figure it out so I can avoid it.

Has anyone else experienced this? Could it be related to whether my leg is turned out or how fast I pull in? I am seeking help from a physical therapist but she does not know the mechanics of skating and various spins so would love to hear if anyone has advice!

I am not nowhere near elite level skater, but I am an elite level neurology patient I agree with the above that you would do better talking to a medical professional than a PT because the symptoms are signs of a constricted nerve and that could be in your hip area but affect your foot. Or it could be at the spinal level. It’s also quite idiosyncratic in the sense that you only have it with a particular movement and it’s doesn’t sound like something experienced as a common nerve issue or repetitive strain injury (like carpal tunnel in the upper extremities). Physical therapy is geared towards helping you achieve better movement and function in general. There are some things that they can no well even compared to MDs, but something involving nerves and how they could be constricted at what level of the nervous system I think you should be asking in a medical setting, someone who know the anatomy of the nervous system in addition to muscoskeletal. In my experience on with the physical therapist is somehow expert in that area or works in that sort of setting, they don’t know as much about the nervous system. if you’re not able to see a sports medicine specialist, at the very least you could maybe see neurology or pain management about it. as for Pain being part of life and Skating, this is kind of true but as an adult skater you are Likely going to be left to your own devices in knowing when the pain is too much or of the “bad type” of pain which neuropathic pain is. From your description of numbness and an intense enough pain that it ruins your whole session, it sounds neuropathic and these can be very hard to track. Hopefully you can find a specialist. You can start with your primary care physician and ask to be referred. If sports medicine isn’t available for you you would want to neurologist that specializes in peripheral nervous system/neuropathy or pain management or both. Good luck!

 

[AlySkates]

I am not nowhere near elite level skater, but I am an elite level neurology patient I agree with the above that you would do better talking to a medical professional than a PT because the symptoms are signs of a constricted nerve and that could be in your hip area but affect your foot. Or it could be at the spinal level. It’s also quite idiosyncratic in the sense that you only have it with a particular movement and it’s doesn’t sound like something experienced as a common nerve issue or repetitive strain injury (like carpal tunnel in the upper extremities). Physical therapy is geared towards helping you achieve better movement and function in general. There are some things that they can no well even compared to MDs, but something involving nerves and how they could be constricted at what level of the nervous system I think you should be asking in a medical setting, someone who know the anatomy of the nervous system in addition to muscoskeletal. In my experience on with the physical therapist is somehow expert in that area or works in that sort of setting, they don’t know as much about the nervous system. if you’re not able to see a sports medicine specialist, at the very least you could maybe see neurology or pain management about it. as for Pain being part of life and Skating, this is kind of true but as an adult skater you are Likely going to be left to your own devices in knowing when the pain is too much or of the “bad type” of pain which neuropathic pain is. From your description of numbness and an intense enough pain that it ruins your whole session, it sounds neuropathic and these can be very hard to track. Hopefully you can find a specialist. You can start with your primary care physician and ask to be referred. If sports medicine isn’t available for you you would want to neurologist that specializes in peripheral nervous system/neuropathy or pain management or both. Good luck!

Thank you for all of this info! It really does feel like it's probably a nerve thing. I spoke to my primary care dr this week to ask for a referral to a sports med dr and she will not give me this referral unless I spend at least a few weeks trying the exercises given by my PT, so that's frustrating because there is no way to for me to just contact a sports med dr or neurologist without a referral with my healthcare provider, but i could rant for days about the healthcare system and i probably don't need to do that here. Based on what you're saying i think i will try to push harder for a referral, and I will keep in mind your comment on my other post about how this could be in part due to my ill-fitting skates and try to get that resolved soon as well!

 

[froo]

Thank you for all of this info! It really does feel like it's probably a nerve thing. I spoke to my primary care dr this week to ask for a referral to a sports med dr and she will not give me this referral unless I spend at least a few weeks trying the exercises given by my PT, so that's frustrating because there is no way to for me to just contact a sports med dr or neurologist without a referral with my healthcare provider, but i could rant for days about the healthcare system and i probably don't need to do that here. Based on what you're saying i think i will try to push harder for a referral, and I will keep in mind your comment on my other post about how this could be in part due to my ill-fitting skates and try to get that resolved soon as well!

I’m so glad of my experiences with nerve stuff and Pain can help. And don’t I know what you’re talking about re healthcare. But you have to follow the algorithm Of referrals. Even though it’s not a new problem for you, it needs to be not helped by some thing for sometime to be referred to the next level of care. I’m glad you started the process and I would definitely push for a referral. Good luck with both the skates and the referral! I’m hoping your skating experience will improve from one of both of these directions

 

[Sunshine247]

In addition to asking at the rink, if you trust your PT, ask them. They probably have seen patients come through from various Drs and have some opinions about them. There are even PTs that specialize in sports medicine. They’re a good source of referrals too. One of those “the maids know everything” kind of things.