Ankle ligament

[Venier]

It's been the best part of two months now and there is still a bit of swelling and pain around my ankle. It now feels like it's been jarred but it's far too painful to be able to play football

Is this normal?

[djmotorsport]

Broke my right ankle paying football in mid Sept - bone healed in 6 weeks but the ligaments are still not back to normal - it takes a while - be patient

[xx99xx]

I snapped/tore a ligament in my ankle once. Could hardly walk so went to A&E after day 2 in case it was broken. It wasn't broken but Dr said 6-8 weeks before it'll be normal again. It turned out to be more like 6-8 months.

Lots of rest, that's all I can recommend.

[gregs656]

Two months since what?

I had bursitis, if you ignore that it’s agony.

[Pinkie15]

About 20 yrs ago pulled/sprained my right ankle playing on astroturf; took 4-5 months of no activity to feel OK again

Still get twinges every now and again.

[bangerhoarder]

What rehab are you doing? The pain can be due to the weak ligaments working overtime as they're stretched and the ankle is unstable as a result. It won't necessarily heal well for something as intensive as football if it's just rested.

I badly damaged mine 16 years ago, and had issues with it being unstable and sometimes painful for the next 14 years. Two years ago I did exactly the same injury, doing the same thing, and it has broken down much of the scar tissue and healed up much stronger - but this time I'm doing constant rehab work (stability, wobble board, resistance band, etc).

[Venier]

bangerhoarder said:

What rehab are you doing? The pain can be due to the weak ligaments working overtime as they're stretched and the ankle is unstable as a result. It won't necessarily heal well for something as intensive as football if it's just rested.

I badly damaged mine 16 years ago, and had issues with it being unstable and sometimes painful for the next 14 years. Two years ago I did exactly the same injury, doing the same thing, and it has broken down much of the scar tissue and healed up much stronger - but this time I'm doing constant rehab work (stability, wobble board, resistance band, etc).

In all honesty, the pain isn't that bad, it just feels a bit bruised still when i stretch the ankle too extremities.

I'm balancing on one foot (the injured one) with eyes closed as advised by physio, also standing on a cushion on one foot

Never done an ankle ligament before so was wondering ball park how long it would take to heal (i know it's all relative) and now discovering for grade 1-2 torn ligaments it's probably going to be at least 3 months

[Venier]

Pinkie15 said:

About 20 yrs ago pulled/sprained my right ankle playing on astroturf; took 4-5 months of no activity to feel OK again

Still get twinges every now and again.

Did you get back to playing much since? I don't mind the odd future tweak needing a couple of weeks rest every now and then but want to get back playing again

I'm no spring chicken, late 30's, so plenty of life left in the old dog yet!

[numtumfutunch]

Venier said:

It's been the best part of two months now and there is still a bit of swelling and pain around my ankle. It now feels like it's been jarred but it's far too painful to be able to play football

Is this normal?

Yes!

I went over on my ankle last summer
It hurt like *** and swelled for at least a couple of months especially after exercise

Work are excellent and I was seen by on site physio who basically said Id bust the ligaments and it would eventually get better which it did. He also gave me some exercises to do which I obviously didnt

Good luck, and see a physio

Cheers

[Pinkie15]

Venier said:

Pinkie15 said:

About 20 yrs ago pulled/sprained my right ankle playing on astroturf; took 4-5 months of no activity to feel OK again

Still get twinges every now and again.

Did you get back to playing much since? I don't mind the odd future tweak needing a couple of weeks rest every now and then but want to get back playing again

I'm no spring chicken, late 30's, so plenty of life left in the old dog yet!

Yes I did; though my playing level only at work team / 5-a-side kick about. I was late 20s when I did it.

From my experience do the exercises and don't rush to get back.

[Venier]

Now at four months in and it still hurts to kick a ball! When will this end!!

Any decent strengthening exercises that i can do to help?

[WTRacer]

Venier said:

Now at four months in and it still hurts to kick a ball! When will this end!!

Any decent strengthening exercises that i can do to help?

I've had the pleasure of ankle ligament damage on 3 occasions (thanks football)

The 1st of these I saw my GP who was utterly useless and 20 years on I still have occasional pain and restricted movement, though it has got substantially better the last 5 years or so, I suspect as a result of me walking ~70 miles pw.

The latter 2 (both on the same ankle) I had private treatment and a full physiotherapy regime for a few months, that ankle is fully healed, free of pain and seemingly no issues with articulation.

Based on this I'd highly recommend seeing a good physio. Though it was probably 15 years since my last injury I seem to recall:

Extensive use of a wobble board
Standing on one leg and bending the knee whilst keeping the foot flat
Again one leg and raising to tip toes
Hopping on one leg
Lots of walking recommended after the physio was completed

I clearly recall multiple sets and reps of these exercises, was in very good shape at the time and the quantity made them quite brutal.
It should go without saying, I'm not recommending these activities to you, they are what I was advised to do. Clearly hopping a few hundred metres could be quite damaging I would have thought, depending on the seriousness and stage of your injury.

I'm no doctor or physio, seek proper advice and they should be able to tailor a program for you. If you feel disinclined to pay for this I refer you to my contunuing pain and bruising (which isn't that pleasant) over 20 years since original damage.

Edited by WTRacer on Monday 6th April 18:15

[Venier]

WTRacer said:

I've had the pleasure of ankle ligament damage on 3 occasions (thanks football)

The 1st of these I saw my GP who was utterly useless and 20 years on I still have occasional pain and restricted movement, though it has got substantially better the last 5 years or so, I suspect as a result of me walking ~70 miles pw.

The latter 2 (both on the same ankle) I had private treatment and a full physiotherapy regime for a few months, that ankle is fully healed, free of pain and seemingly no issues with articulation.

Based on this I'd highly recommend seeing a good physio. Though it was probably 15 years since my last injury I seem to recall:

Extensive use of a wobble board
Standing on one leg and bending the knee whilst keeping the foot flat
Again one leg and raising to tip toes
Hopping on one leg
Lots of walking recommended after the physio was completed

I clearly recall multiple sets and reps of these exercises, was in very good shape at the time and the quantity made them quite brutal.
It should go without saying, I'm not recommending these activities to you, they are what I was advised to do. Clearly hopping a few hundred metres could be quite damaging I would have thought, depending on the seriousness and stage of your injury.

I'm no doctor or physio, seek proper advice and they should be able to tailor a program for you. If you feel disinclined to pay for this I refer you to my contunuing pain and bruising (which isn't that pleasant) over 20 years since original damage.

Edited by WTRacer on Monday 6th April 18:15

Some good tips, thanks - i've seen a physio but this lockdown isn't helping.

I'll try the hopping, balancing and leg raises in the meantime.

The ankle is 'ok' but feels tight when i pull or push my foot up or down as far as it goes