Sprained Ankle for 3rd time

Christi6604

Hello,

I'd appreciate some advice. I severely sprained my right ankle about 10 years ago (2nd degree but ligament was barely hanging by a thread according to the doc)...I sprained it again a couple months ago. Minor. It healed in a couple weeks. I restarted my walking program.

I started the Couch to 5k about 4 weeks ago and re-sprained the same ankle again about 4 days ago walking (very very minor sprain). I know I need to wear a brace every time I walk or jog now, but how long should I rest the ankle before resuming walking or jogging? I hate the thought of losing progress and want to keep exercising, but don't want to damage myself. My general practitioners opinion was that I should rest it for a week and then start to incorporate exercise again...

I haven't been able to find any consistency in the advice online and i live in a very remote area with no specialists around.

Thanks
Christi

curlyclo

I've also sprained my ankle multiple times. I would say to do what you doctor said, but that doesn't mean not to move your ankle at all. The real risk is losing proprioception (the sense that allows your body to know where it is, so it doesn't go past it's limits and get hurt). Loss of proprioception is what makes spraining more likely after each time it happens. In order to minimize loss of this sense, you want to keep moving your ankle - but don't force it! Do light movements like moving your foot in a circle or spelling out the alphabet with your foot, until your doctor clears you for exercise.

quietlywinning

My suggestion is to ask your doctor for physical therapy. It sounds like you need some very specific strengthening exercises to avoid regularly repeating this - and injuring it worse each time.

wolfchild59

I've got ankle problems as well from having severely injured both of them while doing sports in high school.

The best lessons I can give that I've learned from personal experience are:

1. Cross train. Running or walking everyday will lead to continual re-sprains. I was in a viscious cycle of constant injury until I added in days of strength, ARC trainer, elliptical and bike (on rotation, I don't do all of the different cardio every week). I only run three days a week now, never back to back.
2. When letting an injury heal, truly give it devoted healing time. Easy runs are not rest. Stay off of it, elevate it, wrap it properly and give it a constant rotation of heat and cold.
3. If you think it's healed, wait two additional days from when you think you're ready to run again. Ankles are fragile things once injured and if they aren't 100% you're just gonna end up hurting again.
4. Try to limit the amount of running you do with a wrapped/braced ankle. The extra wrapping around the foot and the compression of the muscle will actually throw off your natural gait and you can end up tweaking a knee or even a hip because your body is running out of its natural form because of compensation for the wrap/brace.
5. Add strength training for your legs into your schedule. The stronger my legs as a whole have gotten the less my ankles and knead have hurt.
6. Listen to your body. Even if you think you're healed, and you gave yourself those two extra days, if you're out running and it doesn't feel right or there is pain, stop or ease to a pace where there is no pain.
7. Pro runners use bikes and ellipticals to be better runners, so even if your goal is running and you think that bikes or ellipticals aren't what you want to be doing, remember it's what pros do and it's definitely better than nothing at all.

That's the general stuff I can think of. If I remember any more, I'll post 'em up.

Christi6604

Thanks so much! Sounds like great advice from someone who's been there. :-)

I've got ankle problems as well from having severely injured both of them while doing sports in high school.

The best lessons I can give that I've learned from personal experience are:

1. Cross train. Running or walking everyday will lead to continual re-sprains. I was in a viscious cycle of constant injury until I added in days of strength, ARC trainer, elliptical and bike (on rotation, I don't do all of the different cardio every week). I only run three days a week now, never back to back.
2. When letting an injury heal, truly give it devoted healing time. Easy runs are not rest. Stay off of it, elevate it, wrap it properly and give it a constant rotation of heat and cold.
3. If you think it's healed, wait two additional days from when you think you're ready to run again. Ankles are fragile things once injured and if they aren't 100% you're just gonna end up hurting again.
4. Try to limit the amount of running you do with a wrapped/braced ankle. The extra wrapping around the foot and the compression of the muscle will actually throw off your natural gait and you can end up tweaking a knee or even a hip because your body is running out of its natural form because of compensation for the wrap/brace.
5. Add strength training for your legs into your schedule. The stronger my legs as a whole have gotten the less my ankles and knead have hurt.
6. Listen to your body. Even if you think you're healed, and you gave yourself those two extra days, if you're out running and it doesn't feel right or there is pain, stop or ease to a pace where there is no pain.
7. Pro runners use bikes and ellipticals to be better runners, so even if your goal is running and you think that bikes or ellipticals aren't what you want to be doing, remember it's what pros do and it's definitely better than nothing at all.

That's the general stuff I can think of. If I remember any more, I'll post 'em up.

queenkv

Thank you for this post. I think I tweaked my ankle yesterday on my 4-mile run. It felt tender as I hit the trail. Once I started moving, I didn't want to stop. I'm a little worried about taking this break from running because it has taken me years to build up to this mileage/speed. I'm also worried about more damage on my ankle if I try to power thru the pain.

Christi6604

I've been wearing a brace since I originally posted this, and am running fine now. :-) There is hope.