Discussion
I went over on my ankle last Thursday, the outside of my foot hitting the ground. Hurt like hell but I could put weight on it normally so I figured it wasn’t an actual sprain. By Friday night it was swollen and a few bruises appeared, these have since gone down but it’s still a bit swollen, it hurts if I waggle my foot from side to side and walking is still a bit painful.
Can I expect this to heal of it’s own accord?
Can I expect this to heal of it’s own accord?
Dr Jekyll said:
I went over on my ankle last Thursday, the outside of my foot hitting the ground. Hurt like hell but I could put weight on it normally so I figured it wasn’t an actual sprain. By Friday night it was swollen and a few bruises appeared, these have since gone down but it’s still a bit swollen, it hurts if I waggle my foot from side to side and walking is still a bit painful.
Can I expect this to heal of it’s own accord?
I did similar, fooling about pissed. It continued to give way from time to time for years.Can I expect this to heal of it’s own accord?
Eventually fixed it, walking to work every day, gradually it strengthened.
Did mine a week ago today, same as you got swelling and bruising after about 24 hrs (have been wearing an ankle strap except in bed since i did it) It was friday before I could walk without a limp, Bruising and swelling almost gone now but still painful in certain positions and painful to touch.
I clobbered my ankle twice on the same day, about 2 months ago. No problems at the time but about 3 weeks ago it became very painful indeed. I've had it strapped, Voltaroled and been taking Vitamin I* as required since.
Been nagged to go to the doc but I was resistant, not least because in 2 weeks time I'm going on a motorcycle tour of Morocco and I didn't want somebody glueing a cast to my leg and ruining that trip, so I did a bit of Google self-diag. Seems almost certain that I've damaged one of the anterior ligaments (where they are located is exactly where I get pain) and some sites say they heal better when unfettered than when set in one place. Can take 6 weeks or more to heal (I guess longer if you're older, like I am) so I'll stick with it for now and see how it goes. It's definitely worse if I walk too far, so I'll have to cut that back a bit.
* Vitamin I = Ibuprofen
Been nagged to go to the doc but I was resistant, not least because in 2 weeks time I'm going on a motorcycle tour of Morocco and I didn't want somebody glueing a cast to my leg and ruining that trip, so I did a bit of Google self-diag. Seems almost certain that I've damaged one of the anterior ligaments (where they are located is exactly where I get pain) and some sites say they heal better when unfettered than when set in one place. Can take 6 weeks or more to heal (I guess longer if you're older, like I am) so I'll stick with it for now and see how it goes. It's definitely worse if I walk too far, so I'll have to cut that back a bit.
* Vitamin I = Ibuprofen
Hi Dr Jekyl
In my experience the biggest potential problem is after all the purple bruising etc has gone down and when you think the ankle is good to go again. If its been a proper nasty sprain then you will have lost a lot of proprioception and in the future you will go over on it again and again increasingly on less and less uneven surfaces if you are not careful.
You can restore almost all of that lost proprioception by spending 1-2 mins a day for 3-4 weeks stood on the affected leg, ideally with your eyes closed, wobbling and working your ankle tendons and teaching the nerves which sense an uneven surface to start firing again. As you get better at this, start passing a book around your body using your hands, still with your eyes shut: this mimics v effectively a wobble board which most physios have and which deliberately unbalances your body making your ankle work harder.
In my experience the biggest potential problem is after all the purple bruising etc has gone down and when you think the ankle is good to go again. If its been a proper nasty sprain then you will have lost a lot of proprioception and in the future you will go over on it again and again increasingly on less and less uneven surfaces if you are not careful.
You can restore almost all of that lost proprioception by spending 1-2 mins a day for 3-4 weeks stood on the affected leg, ideally with your eyes closed, wobbling and working your ankle tendons and teaching the nerves which sense an uneven surface to start firing again. As you get better at this, start passing a book around your body using your hands, still with your eyes shut: this mimics v effectively a wobble board which most physios have and which deliberately unbalances your body making your ankle work harder.
mattb46 said:
Hi Dr Jekyl
In my experience the biggest potential problem is after all the purple bruising etc has gone down and when you think the ankle is good to go again. If its been a proper nasty sprain then you will have lost a lot of proprioception and in the future you will go over on it again and again increasingly on less and less uneven surfaces if you are not careful.
You can restore almost all of that lost proprioception by spending 1-2 mins a day for 3-4 weeks stood on the affected leg, ideally with your eyes closed, wobbling and working your ankle tendons and teaching the nerves which sense an uneven surface to start firing again. As you get better at this, start passing a book around your body using your hands, still with your eyes shut: this mimics v effectively a wobble board which most physios have and which deliberately unbalances your body making your ankle work harder.
This is good advice. In my experience the biggest potential problem is after all the purple bruising etc has gone down and when you think the ankle is good to go again. If its been a proper nasty sprain then you will have lost a lot of proprioception and in the future you will go over on it again and again increasingly on less and less uneven surfaces if you are not careful.
You can restore almost all of that lost proprioception by spending 1-2 mins a day for 3-4 weeks stood on the affected leg, ideally with your eyes closed, wobbling and working your ankle tendons and teaching the nerves which sense an uneven surface to start firing again. As you get better at this, start passing a book around your body using your hands, still with your eyes shut: this mimics v effectively a wobble board which most physios have and which deliberately unbalances your body making your ankle work harder.
Also try wearing a light compression support for a few weeks, this also increases proprioceptive feedback. You can also add in some isometric and concentric ankle eversion exercises. Oh and Caterpillar boots can be good to hold your ankle in place.
I'm a podiatrist btw and see quite a few dodgy ankles.
dave_s13 said:
mattb46 said:
Hi Dr Jekyl
In my experience the biggest potential problem is after all the purple bruising etc has gone down and when you think the ankle is good to go again. If its been a proper nasty sprain then you will have lost a lot of proprioception and in the future you will go over on it again and again increasingly on less and less uneven surfaces if you are not careful.
You can restore almost all of that lost proprioception by spending 1-2 mins a day for 3-4 weeks stood on the affected leg, ideally with your eyes closed, wobbling and working your ankle tendons and teaching the nerves which sense an uneven surface to start firing again. As you get better at this, start passing a book around your body using your hands, still with your eyes shut: this mimics v effectively a wobble board which most physios have and which deliberately unbalances your body making your ankle work harder.
This is good advice. In my experience the biggest potential problem is after all the purple bruising etc has gone down and when you think the ankle is good to go again. If its been a proper nasty sprain then you will have lost a lot of proprioception and in the future you will go over on it again and again increasingly on less and less uneven surfaces if you are not careful.
You can restore almost all of that lost proprioception by spending 1-2 mins a day for 3-4 weeks stood on the affected leg, ideally with your eyes closed, wobbling and working your ankle tendons and teaching the nerves which sense an uneven surface to start firing again. As you get better at this, start passing a book around your body using your hands, still with your eyes shut: this mimics v effectively a wobble board which most physios have and which deliberately unbalances your body making your ankle work harder.
Also try wearing a light compression support for a few weeks, this also increases proprioceptive feedback. You can also add in some isometric and concentric ankle eversion exercises. Oh and Caterpillar boots can be good to hold your ankle in place.
I'm a podiatrist btw and see quite a few dodgy ankles.
I did the same thing a week ago in the gym (jumping rope) I tested it for about 2 min then finished my skipping routine and a full leg day.
It's still swollen and a little bruised which worries me a little but I'm not going to stop the gym or my rope routine. I'm just a little more careful and not trying anymore more stupid tricks until it feels back to full strength.
It's still swollen and a little bruised which worries me a little but I'm not going to stop the gym or my rope routine. I'm just a little more careful and not trying anymore more stupid tricks until it feels back to full strength.
mattb46 said:
Hi Dr Jekyl
You can restore almost all of that lost proprioception by spending 1-2 mins a day for 3-4 weeks stood on the affected leg, ideally with your eyes closed, wobbling and working your ankle tendons and teaching the nerves which sense an uneven surface to start firing again. As you get better at this, start passing a book around your body using your hands, still with your eyes shut: this mimics v effectively a wobble board which most physios have and which deliberately unbalances your body making your ankle work harder.
Or just use a wobble board!You can restore almost all of that lost proprioception by spending 1-2 mins a day for 3-4 weeks stood on the affected leg, ideally with your eyes closed, wobbling and working your ankle tendons and teaching the nerves which sense an uneven surface to start firing again. As you get better at this, start passing a book around your body using your hands, still with your eyes shut: this mimics v effectively a wobble board which most physios have and which deliberately unbalances your body making your ankle work harder.
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