knee pain (new skates)

[icewalker_bg 126]

ive recently upgraded my rbk 7k skates to graf supras 735. before the rbks ive had my old but reliable ccm 892. with the 892 ive had very good ankle support therefore i believe my ankles got lazy a bit over the years, and since upgrading to the rbk my ankles were bending inwards a bit more resulting in knee pain. but since upgrading to a proper high end skate which is the supra 735, i have even more knee pain and even more ankle bending, but surpisingly my skating has improved by much. taping the ankles helps me a bit (skating and pain), but the tape rips after short periods of time (i use clear tape, 4-6 passes). the point im getting at is that after my games my knees kill me sometimes for short periods of times (1h appr.) then it goes away. ive never had any serious leg injuries. should i be concerned that i might have problems later on? or ill suffer a bit and get used to it eventully when my ankles become stronger?

thank you msh

[skyscrape 5]

ive recently upgraded my rbk 7k skates to graf supras 735. before the rbks ive had my old but reliable ccm 892. with the 892 ive had very good ankle support therefore i believe my ankles got lazy a bit over the years, and since upgrading to the rbk my ankles were bending inwards a bit more resulting in knee pain. but since upgrading to a proper high end skate which is the supra 735, i have even more knee pain and even more ankle bending, but surpisingly my skating has improved by much. taping the ankles helps me a bit (skating and pain), but the tape rips after short periods of time (i use clear tape, 4-6 passes). the point im getting at is that after my games my knees kill me sometimes for short periods of times (1h appr.) then it goes away. ive never had any serious leg injuries. should i be concerned that i might have problems later on? or ill suffer a bit and get used to it eventully when my ankles become stronger?

thank you msh

Inside or out side of knee? This could be based off of IT band issues or just flexibility. If you wear out the soles of your shoes is it the instep or the outside that wears out?

[icewalker_bg 126]

My ankles are pronating inside since the graf boot is short. And about shoes my wear is pretty even , nothing out of the ordinary

[Vet88 674]

My ankles are pronating inside since the graf boot is short. And about shoes my wear is pretty even , nothing out of the ordinary

You need to get your blades aligned. It doesn't matter how stiff your boot is, as your ankle rolls inwards you stress the knee. Previously you may have had a boot that helped to hold things together just a little bit better than the boot you are in now. Also the more you skate like this the sloppier the boot gets (caused by the rolling ankle putting excess pressure on the inside of the boot) therefore the more ankle roll you get and the worse the knee pain gets, ad infinitum.

The ONLY way to fix this is to get your blades realigned, at the end of the day they should form a straight line from the blade thru the middle of the ankle to the middle of the knee. Orthotics, taping etc will not help fix this long term. Often the blade only needs to shift 1mm or so but it is so important for those of us that have feet / ankles problems. I suggest you go see the best figure skating coach you can find, if they are any good then they will have dealt with this before and know where you can get your skates adjusted.

Unless you work really hard at it with specific exercises targeted to strengthen the tendons and ligaments then your ankle will not get stronger. I also hate to say this but current research shows not doing anything about it can significantly increase your chances of rheumatoid or osteo arthritis in the knee at a later date.

And as an aside, over 35% of the population suffer from some form of foot or ankle alignment problem and why mainstream skate manufacturers will not take this into consideration by allowing for small lateral adjustments in the blade / chassis goodness only knows...