Twisted Ankle

RekindledRose

Hi Everyone,

I twisted my ankle 6 days ago and being off my feet is killing me! Does anyone have any advice on:

1. What kinds of fitness activities I can do while on my butt.
2. How long it took them to heal from a bad sprain (the dang thing popped when I fell - OUCH!) and how they recovered?

Thank you in advance for any input you have!

jenbroussard71

One word of advice is to follow the doctors orders. You don't want to make things worse later on. Do you have access to a pool?

Fuax75

One word of advice is to follow the doctors orders. You don't want to make things worse later on. Do you have access to a pool?

Just what she said, rest it if you do more damage you will be out longer.

fallingtrees

Oh, sprains are awful. I had one a few months back. You want to treat it gingerly, use ice and heat and elevate it.

Once it starts to feel better, don't let it fool you, give it more time.

Wrap it even if you think you don't need to. I bought a neat ankle support, called Futuro for Her. It's blue, and it slips over my foot and then has a stiff elastic wrap that goes around. They run small, though. The nice thing about this is that it fits under my sneakers.

Be wary that even after the sprain heals, there's stiff and delicate scar tissue in there that doesn't stretch normally. That takes a long time to go away, so it's really easy to push it too far and get little tears and then you're back on the couch with ice on it.

As for exercise--go swimming! Try the weight room. Maybe a water aerobics class, yoga, Pilates...

fushigi1988

Had this a while back, sprained BOTH my ankles (I landed wrong after a jump at an obstacle run).
It totally sucks! I stuck to bench press, ab machine and other upper body weights and machines I could still do.
After a while I could go cycling, so I did that.
Slowly built up my walking again, listen to your body.

And I agree with the others, check with doctor first!

I could do most stuff again after 2-3 weeks, still have to be careful now with stepping on uneven surfaces (it happened June 1st)
Can't do lunges yet, but I can squat again, with lighter weights.

RekindledRose

I don't have access to a pool.

The crazy thing is that the PA who saw me said that I should be walking in 3-4 days. Not weeks; days! And he said that I should start using it as soon as I felt like I could, and to only wrap it if I felt like I really had to.

A family friend who is also a doctor said that it was complete BS and to stabilize the ankle and treat it like a break. Thank goodness too - it was hurting so badly until I did that!

Thank you for the ideas about strength exercises I can do. Those are totally great!

I'll definitely keep the brace on even once I feel like it's better. I don't want to re-injure it! I just came off a year of healing from planter fasciitis and I really want to get out and start to run again, but sometimes slower is better... right?

fushigi1988

Yes, take it slow.
I spent the first week with my legs elevated almost all the time (finally had time to catch up on my shows on Netflix).

fallingtrees

Yes, take it slow.
I spent the first week with my legs elevated almost all the time (finally had time to catch up on my shows on Netflix).

I am so very far behind on Big Bang Theory...

Sam_I_Am77

I would stay off of it for at least a week, maybe do some ankle mobility work (Google Kelly Sterrett). It would be even harder on you if you made it worse and then were forced on crutches and inactivity, especially now in the summer. Take the time to relax and recover.

thavoice

I don't have access to a pool.

The crazy thing is that the PA who saw me said that I should be walking in 3-4 days. Not weeks; days! And he said that I should start using it as soon as I felt like I could, and to only wrap it if I felt like I really had to.

A family friend who is also a doctor said that it was complete BS and to stabilize the ankle and treat it like a break. Thank goodness too - it was hurting so badly until I did that!

Thank you for the ideas about strength exercises I can do. Those are totally great!

I'll definitely keep the brace on even once I feel like it's better. I don't want to re-injure it! I just came off a year of healing from planter fasciitis and I really want to get out and start to run again, but sometimes slower is better... right?

treat as if its broke? nah. that is overkill. i have had many bad sprains and 2 to 3 weeks back running. listen to ur body. walk for a few days then try to jog. if pain then walk and try few days later. so many diff levels of sprains

GiddyupTim

Hi rose,
The advice I have heard is to walk on it as soon and as much as pain allows. The idea is that using the ankle helps to aid healing. Sometimes, they will even give you little exercises to do, like doing calf raises on the edge of a step. The rationale behind this is that activity will help strengthen the ankle as it heals and that, when you sprain your ankle, you rip the proprioceptive nerves (The nerves that tell your brain how your ankle is positioned). Those who advise activity and exercises think that the loss of your proprioceptive nerves is the reason ankles often sprain again, and that the exercises help stimulate those nerves to regenerate and heal.
Sorry about your injury.
Good luck

fallingtrees

The word "popped" concerns me. If the pain persists, or you repeat the injury, see the doc again. A family friend ruptured his Achilles tendon, and it was a slow, bit-by-bit process until one day he jumped to spike a volleyball and it finally gave way. Same with my ex's rotator cuff.

bkthandler

Are you getting Physical Therapy? It makes all the difference. I have broken and sprained both ankles several times.

On Sportsskool on demand they have workouts for foot and ankle pain but only after your doc says it is ok.

RekindledRose

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the good advice and input! I really appreciate it.