I've Fallen* and I Can't Get Up!

A few days ago I was coming down the stairs when all of a sudden someone thrust a spear through my kneecap—or at least that's how it felt. After that, whenever I would go down the stairs, I had both a sharp pain and a feeling of instability in that knee. By yesterday I was taking the stairs in a sort of spastic crab-walk style. I had no problem going up the stairs or walking on a flat surface, so I knew there wasn't any kind of terrible injury.

Then, last night, as I came down the stairs after putting Pete to bed, my knee just buckled, and down I went. It was very scary while I was mid-fall, because I had time to think, "This could be really bad," but by the time I landed, I knew that no serious damage had been done. I managed to not twist or whack my back or neck, but I did land hard on my butt, so hard that I saw stars. Andy heard the thud-thud-THUD and came tearing in from the kitchen to find me sitting on the landing, holding back tears.

I feared that I would wake up this morning with whiplash (or worse), but all I have is a bruise like you can't imagine—and it's gotten more colorful and dramatic as the day wears on. I think this qualifies as a contusion. If it weren't on my butt, I'd post a photo for your empathy and vicarious wincing.

And, weirdly enough, now my knee barely hurts when I go down the stairs.

*What ad-copywriting genius decided that an elderly person lying in a tangled puddle in the bathtub would be likely to use the perfect tense when calling for help?

Comments

[scott]

Reminds me of some of the knee problems I developed about six years ago. I'd been running in a gorgeous county park with a lot of hills. I almost gave up running entirely before I realized it was the act of running down the hills that was killing me. I started running on the street after that. Level streets. Problem solved. Lesson learned: going down hills or stairs is a lot harder on the knee joint than you think!

Recover quickly.

[Margaret]

Stairs are harder on tricky ankles too. I can run on my ankle, but it doesn't always like to come downstairs! I'm glad that no major damage was done. I'm relieved about that, but disappointed that we can't have a photo. ;)

[Janet]

Karen -- The same thing has been happening to me since I was a kid. I took a few falls down the stairs (and one terrible spill off my bike)but then learned to hold on whenever I'm on stairs. It stinks -- no warning -- one minute I'm fine, the next my knee gives out and down I go. My trainer and I do a lot of work to strengthen the muscles supporting the knee, which helps, but doesn't entirely solve, the problem. I'm sorry it happened to you!

[Elena]

Ouch! Why were you holding back the tears? I would've been sobbing!

[nina]

I want a photo. We, your faithful readers, should not be denied.