The Magic Shot

My orthopedic surgeon says: "I have a magic injection for you"

I shouldn't call it a 'magic' injection, but it has success 70% of the people who get it. It involves injecting a replacement for synovial fluid in my knee.

My prescriptions are of the $3 variety normally. This time, however, my insurance company made me jump through paperwork hoops and they filled the prescription from a special pharmacy. The prescription costs a mortgage payment for a small house in a nice neighborhood in a big city, but I only had to pay the cost of a premium gas fill up for a Ford SUV. I had to wait for a month for the prescription to be delivered to my doctor's office. This thing was a "big deal".

The day finally came when it was obvious that physical therapy could only take me so far, so the doctor elected to inject the fluid.

Some advice: DON'T LOOK AT THE NEEDLE! AT ALL. TURN YOUR HEAD!

My doctor spritzed my knee with some painkiller, then told me this long story about taking his son to the DMV to distract me while he put in the needle.

Yeah, it still hurt. However, it wasn't the worst I've ever had. I've had rabies shots and those were worse.  It was the kind of pain that makes you yelp a swear word or  "Hail Mary!". Fortunately, it didn't take very long.

My doctor told me I should see results anywhere between 2 days to 4 weeks.

By the next day 50% of the pain had gone, and what was left was diffuse rather than of the ice pick ti the joint variety. So, doing good!

This is not a permanent cure. It lasts from a few months to a year. But this will give me enough time to up my exercise and get back in shape.

Looking forward to seeing how it affects my skating knee bend!

"Bend ze knees, five dollars pleeze."

(This is either Frick or Frack)

Skating Again after Kneemageddon!

I went to freestyle today at my old rink and skated for 30 minutes.  Honestly, that last minute was torture. I've lost so much muscle tone in my right leg, and my balance was all over the place, that when I cautiously got on the ice I looked like this....

Slip, Slidin' Away

 This is one of the things I anticipated. As you get older,  the body loses muscle and flexibility at a rate that's positively depressing. Even though I continued my weight lifting and stretching exercises over the last 3 months, there was nothing I could do to keep my legs strong. I had to let them rest and recover. Now I have to rebuild them.

I started out with some simple stroking, the lack of practice showed, It took me a few minutes to get my posture and upper body back in alignment. I knew I looked like a Basic 3 skater, but the kids knew me and avoided me (the sweethearts). I was able to do forward and backwards crossovers by the end of my half hour; three turns and mohawks were where I was a year ago.

So what's a good thing for an elderly  mature woman to do to recover?

I did some research and everyone agrees that the four fitness goals for a 'mature' adult are the following:
Endurance
Strength
Balance
Flexibility

Endurance. What's a good exercise for this on ice? Swizzles. I found that swizzles were very demanding on my weaker leg, and I had to work hard to make the swizzles symmetric.  Also I wouldn't let myself do 'lazy swizzles'. I did them so I touched my feet together then out again which I find harder than 'lazy swizzles'.

I've been doing strength training of upper body during kneemageddon, and just started rebuilding my leg muscles. Pnysical Therapy starts Monday. When  I look at the strength exercises for the 'mature' online, the weights are at the 3 and 5 pound level. I'm using 15 and 20's and have a personal trainer. I guess I'm not the traditional little old lady.

Balance. Believe it or not I've been working on my off ice balance during Kneemageddon.  It's not the same as real skating. Cross fingers my skating balance comes back quickly. And what, you ask, is a balance exercise? Stand on one foot--working up to standing on one foot with eyes closed, on a Bosu Ball.  Still at standing on one foot with my eyes open. Man, the whole one foot on the Bosu ball, not happening.

I'm on the left....sigh.

Flexibility. Use it or lose it, baby. I do 30 minutes of flexibility work every weekday. My DVDs for this are here. I also have a knee rehabilitation DVD and a few others. My orthopedic surgeon was amazed. If I had one thing I would unreservedly recommend to 'mature' adult skaters, it's regular stretching training, and these DVD's are really good.

Now you're wondering how I was skating after the half hour of practice.

Ta Da!
(I am this cute!)

Back On The ICE Approval

So the surgeon approved me to go back on the ice--gently--and build up my leg strength. I was clutching my copy of this month's Skating magazine in my clammy little hand when I asked. He tilted his head to see the picture on the cover, and I think that was the first time he understood I meant "ice" skating. But, he said, "Sure."

Now since I haven't really skated for more than 30 minutes since this started, I've completely lost all memory of every freestyle session within an 80 mile radius. I mean it's a blank. I used to know every rink's schedule, and now I know nothing.

OMG, I feel so empty....

One of the things that came out of this whole kerfuffle (TM applied for) is that the doctor uncovered my right leg is much weaker than my left.  I now have to see a physical therapist to muscle up one leg. Maybe this explains my handedness issue and inability to do things in the clockwise direction and my total failure to do two foot snow plow stops; it's not just the 'handedness' thing. So, it's not me! Well, it IS me. Darn it. Just a different part of me.

What happens when you have one bad leg....

My dream though is to get a doctor to write me a "Letter of Medical Necessity" so I can use skating as an approved rehabilitative exercise. Then I can get reimbursement from my health savings account for ice time and be able to use my 40 years of accumulated sick leave to skate (for rehabilitation). That would be sweet.  But, haven't had that happen yet.

However, since the furlough thing looks like it's going to go ahead, I'll probably have plenty of free time to skate and build up that bad leg. Trying to be positive here. 

Yeah, whatever.

Knee Supports

I have chondromalacia, and osteoarthritis in my knees. Apparently when I was thrown from a horse back in the seventies, it took its time catching up with me.

One of the recommendations for the kind of injury I have is a compression or elastic knee brace. These are usually inexpensive  (although there's some with elaborate webbing, and gel inserts that cost up to a $100). Most of these seem to have been designed for men, and certainly everywhere I look, people complain of fit, wear, and loss of elasticity. Fortunately, they're mostly inexpensive, so buy a new one if the old one doesn't work.

I'm unlucky in that I'm exactly between a medium and a large, so I've had unique fitting problems.

First off, expense doesn't seem to be relevant. In looking at Amazon reviews I've seen no correlation between expense and usefulness. I'm just using the cheap ones from the drug stores. It's a good place to start. Based on Amazon reviews, picking a knee brace appears to involve a lot of hit or miss selection, or  you just get lucky on your first try.

Secondly, I picked ones that won't hurt me. Some braces involve tabs and gel and neoprene. The neoprene ones are just too hot and make your leg sweat, anything based on neoprene is dead to me.

I started with the closed knee brace from Futuro. This is little more than an elastic tube but it's more breathable than neoprene.

I found that in this one, I'm better off with a medium. Even though I'm in the range for a large, it just folds over and slowly slips down my leg. The medium seems to get tighter during the day, but it doesn't fold over *as much* as the large.  So if you're between sizes with this, you might consider trying the smaller one first. This knee brace is less noticeable than the other.

The other brace I tried has plastic boning along the sides and an opening over the knee. In this one the boning keeps it from rolling down from the top. I went with a large.

I liked this one more than the closed knee one, but it's too bulky for daily wear. I've come to think of this one as 'good enough to skate in'. The boning gives a little rigidity, but don't mistake it as supportive as those articulated knee braces you see some skaters wear. This design is mostly about keeping the kneecap from sliding around too much. The compression is just to keep it in place.

I've ordered a third one from Amazon. It's neoprene unfortunately, but it's called a shorty brace, so at least there's not much of it. It has a ridge of gel a the bottom of the patella and that looked promising.

Pro-Tec Knee Brace

Since I'm not jumping I don't 'kneed' elaborate or rigid braces. I need something just to add a little 'oomph' to get through the day. Right now these cheapies appear to be doing and adequate job, just don't expect them to last more than a fe weeks.

If you have a magic knee brace, I'd be interested in hearing about it.

Catastrophic Failure

You're probably wondering where I've been. As we all know, disasters (like celebrity deaths) come in threes. Today, my final disaster happened, and I'm now ready for my luck to turn.

First disaster? My knees went kablooey. (I'm thinking of trademarking 'kablooey' this has dragged on so long.)

Second disaster? My 13 year old clothes washer went kablooey. As the repairman told me today, the bearing seal failed 'catastrophically'.

Third disaster? The washing machine bearing ate my favorite skating shirt!  I mean for a 60 year old woman, I looked goooood in that shirt. Now alas, it's going to visit the dump...sad little shirt.

I'm in mourning. I loved to wear that shirt.

Those aren't shadows--those dark spots are bearing grease
You can see the wrinkles where the shirt was twisted
when it was caught between the wall of the washer
and the tub.

The last two items are non-recoverable. But my insurance company approved the injections for my right knee. These cost about the same as a mortgage payment, but my insurance covered all but an amount that's about the same as a dinner for two at Red Lobster (with drinks for one). Sometime, this week or next  I'll get the injections directly into the meniscus and at that point I'll probably be able to do some skating. Not fancy skating, just limited 'get back on the ice' skating.

What's the end going to be? The only solution is probably lose at least 20-30 lbs, so long, slow haul. I'm wearing an elastic knee brace, taking anti-inflammatories, and getting the injections, but really, those are just keeping me walking. Skating's going to require dedication to walk down the snack aisle and not buy anything. So far I'm down about 5 lbs. And it's hard when you really can't exercise much.  So, hoping the injection works out!

OOooh! But on the other hand, I ordered a new clothes washer today. Isn't it cute?

The adorable new clothes washer!

What Kind of Skater Are YOU!

[Thanks to posters on www.skatingforums.com for this idea.]

Here's how I rack and stack skaters.

"ice tourists" Show up a couple of times a year, usually between November and March, for fun. Never take lessons.

"beginner skaters" People in basic skills class, who may be regulars, but don't own their own skates.

"casual skaters" Committed skaters who regularly show up  year round in their own skates, but don't take private lessons.

"recreational skaters" Own their own skates, take private lessons. Don't test.

"test skaters"   These skaters are like recreational skaters, but are involved in a test program.

"competitive recreational skaters" Not only do these skaters test, but they work on programs, and go to competions.

"competitive skaters" These are the skaters (usually younger) who are on the track for passing the required tests for entering qualifying competitions.

"elite skaters" These are the 1000 or so skaters who compete in international competitions.

"synchro" Amazingly talented skaters at all levels who love to compete as a team.


So in October I was a "test skater". Now I'm a "casual skater".

Lo, how the mighty have fallen.


Stupid knees...

Rudolph, I share your pain.

Snap Crackle Pop!

The right knee is getting scary.

The exercise routines I'm using are doing some good. Although I'm pain free for 30 minutes to an hour after my exercise, and I can feel that my knee is improving, it's too slow. I've got immediate problems.

Today while I was standing in line, I turned to speak to someone and my right knee buckled. Fortunately, my left leg is almost back to normal, so using 'figure skater reflexes' I was able to stay upright, otherwise I would have had to grab a complete stranger.

And he wasn't cute.

My knee made a really obvious 'snap' when it happened. People turned and stared.

Usually the 'snapping' sound is harmless; it's a ligament slipping over a bone, but combined with the buckling, I don't think it's harmless. Today I felt I'd given the knee enough of a chance. I'm making an appointment and getting the Synvisc injections. It will only last a few months, but that may give me enough of a 'fix' to get my weight down a few pounds and give the exercises time to build up my knee strength.

Ice Ice Baby!

Back on the ICE!

For 15 minutes.

But I was doing forward stroking, crossovers, two foot turns.

Tried some 3 turns and a couple of mohawks. Weak and scary, but still I was back on ice. Fell once. Badly.

So, after 6 weeks off, I had trouble finding my edges, and finding the edges was really important. If I'm not on a good edge and perfectly on the right place on the blade, I don't have enough strength in my calf and knee to recover gracefully if I'm even a little bit out of position. For this reason, I'm not skating on public yet, just freestyle. The effort needed to avoid some kid who skates straight at me, terrifies me.

Even when I have a good edge and balance, I look a bit like a newborn bird flapping its wings. I'm all over the place.

Grumpy Coach, who was an elite skater from decades ago, glared at me. I greeted him as always in the Little Old Lady Way with a cheery, "Good afternoon, dearie."

He sort of grunted at me in an Eastern European language, then turned his back on me. There's just no making some people smile.

I blame communism.

Still, we have a suddenly open Saturday freestyle tomorrow (game cancelled). I'm aiming for 30 minutes on the Ice. Ice, Baby! On, the Ice!

I Blame Hurricane Sandy

You know you're old when you have to do stretching every day to keep from falling apart.

I need to exercise every day!

I restarted exercising a couple of days ago after I realized that I had stopped my stretching sessions when Hurricane Sandy hit. Right after that my back went out for a week, followed a week later by my knees going 'kablooey'.

All my misery is due to Hurricane Sandy throwing off my exercise schedule. Maybe I should sue NOAA .

Then this evening I got a new fitness video in the mail. Quick Fix Knee Rehab with Jen Miller. It requires two small balls in a net bag to self-massage your joints.  I did the 11 minute Pre-Hab section where you lie on and roll over the balls in the little net bag; First the hip joints, then muscles of the thigh, then the knee. This is to get you warmed up for more difficult exercises. It was a pleasant experience, not too difficult.  The instructor mention this 'weird heat' that people would get when the muscles were responding but I didn't get that while doing the pre-hab exercises. (There are two additional sets of exercises on the DVD, I just haven't done them yet.)

However, as I was seated cross legged on the floor, reading the New York Times, I started absently massaging my knee where it hurt with the massage balls. And you know, my knee felt better. I started doing the massage more purposefully. I massaged the knee with the ball until it stopped hurting, then changed the leg position, found a new pain and massaged that. So, that took another 10 minutes before I quit.

A half hour later this 'weird heat' flooded through my knee as if someone had put a space heater in my knee and plugged me in. For 10 minutes my knee was without pain.

Wonderful.

I'm going to keep up with this!

How it works, what it's doing; No idea. Just feels great--for a few minutes at a time.

Me and the MRI

Well, the imaging center did both knees today. Just in case you ever need an MRI, let me make some comments.

First off, it wouldn't hurt to wear some socks. Even though they gave me some paper foot covers and wrapped me in a heated sheet, after a while my feet were freezing (probably because I couldn't move my legs.

They're really particular about what you wear.  Nothing can have any ferrous metal in it. I was permitted to wear my stretch pants, but not the bra since it had metal in it. If this happens again, I'll wear one of those all stretch bras without any underwires.

An MRI is really loud---and then it gets much, MUCH louder. After the first go round on the right knee, I asked for ear plugs. The second time around with the earplugs, it was much better. Rather like going to a boring early Philip Glass concert. The technicians offered me music to listen to, but loud music on top of loud MRI sounds was just too much. I was better off with the ear plugs.

When they asked me if I was claustrophobic, I said 'no' on the paperwork. Then I met the machine. I don't think I could have stood it if I had to put my whole body in there. However, only my legs went in, and  I was okay.  So, really, really confining space. Far more confining than I expected.

Before I had the MRI I had to list all my surgeries and implants in case I had stainless steel  in me. I read up on this last night, and even if they don't explicitly ask about a particular body part it's important to list every single possible clip, stent, implant etc. Mine turned out to all be titanium (as most are after 1995). I had some surgical clips from the 80's so there was a little frisson of worry, but I'm here to write about it so obviously nothing happened.

A slice of an MRI of somebody's knee
(not mine)

So after the MRI (took about an hour all told), they gave me a CD of my images. I give that to the orthopedic surgeon on Monday and find out what's wrong with me.

And then maybe I'll find out if I'll skate again.

Off Ice-- :-(

So, I went skating yesterday and I still have pain in the right knee when stroking or doing CCW forward crossovers. I don't think there's any muscle weakness there, but the pain is so sharp it's hard not to flinch when I stroke or step down on the crossover. If I put the weight on the leg while it's straight, and bend into it (like a 3 turn) the pain's not so great, so no idea what's going on. I need an ortho who's a hockey player, but none to be found.

I called Coach Cruella and told her to take me off her list of students as I didn't think I'd be back on the ice anytime soon.

For the first time in years I'm coachless.

I don't know what to do with myself on weekends. I don't have to rush to the rink. I don't have an excuse to buy new skating clothes.

I did notice yesterday, that swizzles and a few other moves didn't cause me problems. Also, I experimented with old-fashioned English style 3 turns, where you do the 3 turn with a straight leg through out and three turn based on a leg swing (yes, it's tricky). So maybe, I will go back on the ice. I could work on my back crossovers probably, and a few other things that don't involve deeply bend right knees.

 I'll still continue to post, but I'll be limited to figure skating history. While those aren't my most popular posts, at least I'll be able to keep my hand in while I'm waiting for further knee workups. (MRI next!)

Soft Knees

There's two things that horse back riding and skating have in common: soft knees and independence of upper and lower body.

So, let's tackle 'soft knees' first.

I did a lot of research on this, and all I could find were a couple of comments that 'soft knees means bent knees'.

Mmmmm, no.

Well, anyway, not to me.

My experience has been in both riding and skating that a 'soft knee' is what I'll call a 'responsive leg'. The casual observer sees the knee bend and how it flexes. That's the obvious part.  But really, I believe what's going on is much more complex.

From my riding days, I learned that 'soft knees' involved the muscles of the lower back and abdomen,  flexibility and strength in the hips and knees, and controlled movement of the ankle. All this has to be  balanced and coordinated, otherwise you pull on the horse's mouth as your leg will get in the wrong position and throw off your balance.

Skating's very similar. You have to control the leg relative to the upper body, and to do that you need to get over the right part of the blade and that takes ever single joint below the waist. And as you move up and down, every single joint has to respond together. This is why I think defining 'soft knees' as 'bent knees' is inadequate. That's what the observer sees, but that's only the tip of the iceberg abot what's going on.

As I'm now in my 60's, I'm okay with the muscles of the back and core, the ankle bend and the hip flexion. However, my knee bend is CRAP!

See my knees?
Crap! Crap! I say!

Still, I'd like to chime in with my amateur opinion, that 'soft knees' is something that ought to be banned from a coach's vocabulary. It's much more complex, especially in skating. I'm fortunate that my riding background is so extensive and strong, and Coach Cruella is good at getting everything coordinated both mentally and physically.

Still, a coach can take me only so far. The knees are willing but the flesh is weak.

Fixing Knee Pain--

Once upon a time I dated an anesthesiologist. I learned from him that there are two kinds of pain: Nerve pain and inflammation pain. Advil (sweet, sweet Advil) is an anti-inflammatory and it's working for me.

Tomorrow I see the doctor and learn if a. I'm going to get better with time, b. get better with physical therapy, or c. there's miracle drugs to fix me d. this is the end of my skating.

Please, please let it be this....

I have a miracle shot for you.

PS. I've started The Ice Doesn't Care Facebook page if you're interested. Still learning about FB....yeah, I'm the age of a granma, don't know anything about FB, but I'm working on putting up the pages.

OMG! My Knee!

I'm hors de combat. That's French for "out of the fight". Temporarily, I'm not skating. The doctor's appointment is Monday.

I just woke up one morning before Thanksgiving with excruciating pain in one knee and unable to walk down the stairs. That's a forefoot first movement. Ouch! I'm better now, but skating is out.

Ow! Ow! Ow!

Skating is a forefoot first sport, unlike running or tennis which are heel first sports. I'm not sure if the pain indicates a functional failure (the knee might collapse), or an irritated nerve (no collapse). Whatever is causing the pain, I can't skate on my right inside edge. 

Since after a week + a day of rest and OTC meds I was close to pain free off-ice, I got on the ice for a lesson, and could tell with the first stroke I didn't belong there. It was that 'forefoot first' problem.

Now this is the funny thing.  I showed Coach Cruella I could do a left FO3, but not a right one. Then, I showed her a clockwise mohawk to see if I could do the transfer to the right leg.

My body was screaming, "Don't get on the inside edge! Don't get on the inside edge!" So unconsciously I did a perfect closed outside mohawk. Yes, I did 'the hard one'. Amazing what your body can do when it wants to avoid excruciating pain. I got off the ice immediately

I now have no excuse for not doing any mohawk at all in ice dance.

Anyway, I'll continue to post, just without delving into my lessons.  I've still got some funny stories to tell, and I've been working on something new.

I've been wanting to create some simple repeatable footwork patterns for myself, and I found myself mentally challenged to figure it out ahead of time in my head. Being an engineer, I've developed a system of notation to help me write down and debug these footwork patterns ahead of time*. So more about that later. I'll report back soonest on the knee and hope there's a miracle injection to cure me!

*Yep, all of a sum of zero people interested in notation.

The Little Old Lady Way--On Ice

About the time I passed 60, I started calling everyone 'hon', 'dear', or 'sweetie'. It's like an announcement was made in my head:

"You are an old lady now. Have Fun with It."

It's wonderful being 'aged'.

Today, a boy skater (16), I'll call 'Youngling', came up to me and Miss Cheerleader. He was today's rink guard; the three of us all take from Dance Coach.  "Does my hair look okay?" he asked us. It stuck out everywhere. What do I know? Is that popular now? I looked at him critically, "Youngling, I'm old enough to be your grandmother, You.Look.Adorable." Miss Cheerleader hooted, as we both know how sulky teenage boys can be when you say stuff like that. I expected an eye-roll. But Youngling just grinned. You see, when you're a Little Old Lady, they don't mind.

When I got on the ice, Dance Coach was his usual, "Move faster. Push Harder. More Extension!"

I should just record Dance Coach for motivation
Move Faster! More Extension! Push Harder!

I was pushing, moving, extending past ice tourists -- technically within inches of people as I'm faster than all but the annoying wannabe hockey boys-- I was all "Sorry hon." or "Sweetie, you're fine." or "Did I scare you dear?"

This drives Dance Coach Batty!

"When did you get so chatty....and nice? You used to be loud and 'everybody move out of my way, now!' You're not the same person."

Old Me
"Get off my ice! You crazy kids!"

New Me: "Dahlink, you are zo Vunderful"

Well, of course my skills have become 100X better. I'm not afraid of falling and breaking something as I was when I was fresh out of broken ankle recovery, and I'm about 50 times more confident than two years ago. I no longer flinch when I pass close to someone.

Thanks to Dance Coach, Cruella, Amazing and Moves Coach for building my skills. I'm not a hopeless case after all.

Just one thing's missing.

I'd.Kill.To.Have.The.Knees.I.Had.When.I.Was.14.

So true, so true.

Other than that, being 60 is a lot of fun!

Hips, Knees and Elbow-Part I, the Knee

My experience in skating was that I hit my elbows, knees and hips more than I ever hit my wrists and head.  Fortunately, your hips, knees and elbows are pretty tough and seldom suffer injury. But, there's no reason you need to skate in pain or risk an injury while you're learning. Why not wear pads?

Well, most people don't wear pads because they look unattractive. But even the cheap stuff you buy at a big box store usually works for beginners. It's only when you get past the first few basic skills that you realize that these cheap pads can interfere with your skating mobility and body position. Let's look at knee pads today, since when you first learn to skate you'll spend time on your knees.

Knee Pads

There's three main kinds: volleyball pads, inline skating pads, and figure skating pads. I'll go over the pros and cons for each.

Volleyball Kneepads

Volleyball knee pads come in a variety of styles and quality. You can spot them because the pad is integrated into the leg sleeve. Some have foam pads (cheaper), others have gel (more expensive, but better). Depending on what you wear, you can probably get some styles of pads under a pair of slacks. If you go with these make sure they have an opening in the back of the sleeve to allow for knee bend.

Pros: They work and aren't too confining. I knew a man at Freestyle 4 level who jumped (and fell) in these without problems. I've seen higher level skaters wearing a single pad in practice (I assume to protect an injured knee). Cheap to moderately expensive. Widely available.

Cons: Can't wear them for testing or competition. Some people may feel they interfere with certain elements. If you have large legs, the sleeve may be too restrictive.

Inline skating kneepad
Hard shell

Inline skating knee pads come in a bewildering variety of designs and levels of quality. Hard shell (as in the picture to the left). Softcap (similar to the volleyball knee pad). Pad integrated into the sleeve, or pad held in place with straps. What distinguishes Inline Skating pads from volleyball pads is that inline pads are generally thicker and designed for someone falling onto concrete.

I have seen these types of pads on many small children in Learn to Skate and a very few adults in Pre-Alpha (Basic 1) type classes. Generally adults give up on these as they are too thick to wear under clothes and must be worn over clothes. Once an adult gets steady on the ice, they seem to go to other protection solutions.

Pros: They work really well. Cheap. Available everywhere.
Cons: Hard to get on. Hard to get to stay in place. Most are designed to be worn over bare legs, not slacks. Bulky and may interfere with moves like cross overs.

Skating Safe Pad

As far as I know, there is one figure skating knee pad. Designed by a company called SkatingSafe, they are a gel product. The picture to the left shows a pad in place on a knee. When you buy the pad, you just get the pad. You have to figure out how to keep it in place. The company sells a retention sleeve, but I don't know of any adults who use them.  If you are a woman you can hold the pad in place with your tights. I use capri length compression tights to hold mine in place. I suspect a man would use a similar solution. Carefully placed, these pads are invisible under clothing. I've heard of skaters wearing them under tights and they couldn't be seen.

For something so thin, they work like magic. I've taken some really hard falls in them and felt nothing. Zip. Nada. Zero. As I said, Magic.

Pros: Can be worn under clothes. Can be worn in testing and competition. Work well. Don't interfere with skating moves.

Cons: OMG. The Price. But my knees are worth it.

There's lots of options for different levels of ability. All of them work. There's lots of price differences so even someone on a budget could afford some kind of knee protection. As you advance you'll probably find yourself needing knee pads less and less as you gain stability. However, at some point you'll have a jump, or a piece of footwork than will land you on your knees and you'll take them up again. Ah, figure skating, the never ending cycle of pain.