What Can Be the Cause of Knee Pain While Roller Skating?

The knees during roller skating may hurt because of repetitive knee-flex motion, prior ankle or hip problems, lack of roller skating practice, lack of warm up, poorly fitting roller skates, taking sharp turns and having a poorly aligned patella.

Learning the basics of roller skating, and having a good posture may prevent knee pain.

List of Factors Why Knees Hurt During Roller Skating

Here is a quick list of the most common factors that can cause your knees to hurt.

Repetitive Knee-Flexion Motion

One of the major causes of knee pain is repetitive knee-flexion motion. It can result in several types of knee injuries, including meniscus and torn ligaments. Ligaments in the knees can be torn due to the constant pulling of muscles during roller skating. This leads to sharp pain in the knees if not taken care of. In addition to torn ligaments, damage to cartilage can cause your knees to hurt as well. Hence, you need to avoid pulling your muscles excessively in order to protect your ligaments and cartilage from damage.

Ankle or Hip Problems

Sometimes, knees are not directly responsible for knee pain after skating. Any issues in the hips or ankles can cause your knee joints to become loose and painful. This is why you have to be careful about the placement of your ankles and hips. An issue in the hips or ankles can hinder the back and forth movement of the knees too. Hence, if you find it difficult to maintain a back and forth motion while skating, you should get it checked.

Poorly Aligned Patella

A disturbance in the patella alignment can also be a reason for pain in your knees. The patella has to move in a particular way to keep the knees functioning properly. Any disruption in this alignment can lead to severe knee injuries. Thus, you should have your patella checked to see if it is misaligned when your knees hurt.

Lack of Practice

If you are new to skating and start trying complex movements, then you are more likely to hurt your knees. Initially, the muscles are not flexible enough, and doing extra stretches can lead to a torn ligament. It is better to start slow and gradually build your stamina. Increasing the flexibility of knee muscles over time can be a great way of ensuring you avoid bad knees.

Not Warming Up

Another common reason for your knees hurting because of roller skating is not warming up. Roller skating is a physically taxing sport, so the muscles need a little push before performing complex movements. Just like you make sure to do some stretches before working out, you need to warm up before roller skating. Make sure you especially focus on quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves while you warm up for roller skating. Making these muscles active before starting roller skating takes the major pressure away from the knees to these muscles.

Poorly Fitting Shoes

It is common knowledge that one should always buy perfectly fitting shoes. However, it is even more important to buy good-fitting shoes for roller skating. Trying to balance the skates and navigating different roads is hard in itself. But, it gets even more difficult when you have poorly fitting shoes. You have to balance both your feet on the skates and the skates on the road in case of a poor fit. This causes your knees to take on extra load, so they start hurting. So, make sure you have the perfect shoe size when you go roller skating.

Skating in Crowded Places

People tend to overlook a crucial cause of knee injuries while they go roller skating. When you skate in crowded areas, you will have to take sharp turns to avoid collisions with others. This can cause the knees to buckle, which can be very painful. You might also fall while trying to avoid bumping into people. This, too, causes the knees to hurt, so it is advised to avoid roller skating in crowded places.

Hurting knees can lead you to wonder: is roller skating good for your knees? Well, roller skating as a sport is not painful for your knees in itself. But several factors can lead to knee injuries if you are not careful enough. This is why we have summarized some key points that you need to bear in mind to avoid hurting your knees while roller skating.

Learn the Basics of Roller Skating

Not knowing the basics of roller skating can be one of the key factors that cause your knees to hurt. The importance of knowing the right way of roller skating is important to avoid any injuries or serious risks. You should go through YouTube tutorials and learn the basic techniques of roller skating. You should also read blogs of professional roller skaters to be better equipped for skating. If you are a beginner, you should also ask expert skaters in your social circle to teach them the basics. You must also know how to break your fall to prevent injuries if the fall is inevitable. This helps you keep the damage to a minimum.

Straight Knees and Bending Forward

Maintaining the correct posture is also vital when it comes to roller skating. People tend to bend their knees to try to balance their weight on roller skates. But, this is malpractice that all roller skaters need to put a stop to. The best posture is maintained when you bend forward while keeping the knees straight.

Wear Safety Gear

Wearing safety gear is an essential practice to ensure a safe roller skating experience. When you fall during roller skating, the knees are quite often the first to come in contact with your body. This can cause serious knee injuries, so it is better to have protective gear in place to stay safe.

Maintain a Healthy Weight

Having an excessive body weight can also cause your knees to hurt. When your knees have to carry extra weight, they have to overdo themselves to prevent falls. This is why experts suggest maintaining a healthy weight if you are into roller skating.

Closing Thoughts

To wrap up, roller skating is undoubtedly fun, but it can cause knee injuries if you are not careful. So, you should learn all the basics of roller skating and avoid any malpractices that we have mentioned above.