Old Injury Advice

zenchild

During the 1984 Winter Olympics I was 4 years old. I was fascinated by the figure skaters. I loved their sparkly dresses and I especially loved how they could jump and spin. I thought it would be great if I could spin like that and decided to try. I climbed up on the end of the couch and flung myself off the end, spinning as I went.
As it turns out, that was not one of the better ideas I've ever had. At 4 years old I didn't have much of a concept of friction or momentum. I learned that day. Friction meant that as soon as my right foot hit the carpet, my foot stopped. And momentum meant that the rest of my body kept spinning. And I had a seriously sprained ankle.
The next morning, the doctor confirmed that it was a sprain and just had me keep my weight off it for a while. I realize now that he probably should have immobilized it somehow to allow it to heal better. A week or two later, I was fine. Over the next years I broke that leg and sprained the ankle several times.
I've noticed over the past few years that every time I'm especially active, my ankle acts up. Occasionally it is just a bit sore, a couple times it has actually swollen up. In the past I wasn't too unhappy about taking it easy for a week or two. For about a month I have been working out 6 days a week for about an hour. I am REALLY liking my results and I'm not willing to stop just because my ankle is angry. My first instinct is to tell my ankle to suck it up and deal with but I realize that my ankle may have the last laugh if I take this approach.
Does anyone else deal with this? Do you think a snug wrap with an ace bandage would be enough support? Will my ankle eventually get stronger?

JNick77

You just have to judge it for yourself and see how you feel. Being in constant pain isn't good and can just lead to other injuries.

Just to give you an idea on injury, I've had a ruptured pectoral tendon and a disc protrusion. The chest injury makes it difficult for me to do certain "fly" and crossover exercises because they seem to over-stress the injury site, no matter how light I take the weight. Basically I do not do those exercises anymore, which really isn't a big loss anyway to be honest. My back on the other hand has finally recovered to the point where I can do most lifts but I take great care in making sure my form is good and I'm patient with how I increase the weight I lift.

stetienne

Your ankle, or more accurately, the ligaments in your ankle will not get stronger on their own. Each time you sprained it, the ligaments were compromised even more. Use an ankle brace for extra support.

Azdak

Your ankle will not get stronger if you just ignore it and/or wear a brace. You need to be evaluated to determine the extent of your deficit and then work on strengthening, stability, and balance. A brace may be a "last resort" that is necessary once you reach the extent of your ability to improve w/therapy, or a therapist might OK it as an interim device to help you continue working out while treating the injury. But, by itself, a brace will more likely weaken the joint rather than help strengthen it.

LiddyBit

You might want to meet with a sports medicine doctor and get hooked up with some physical therapy. They will help you properly strengthen your ankle without further damage and be able to give you advice on how to handle your other work outs. They'll also teach you how to wrap it or what sorts of things you need to do from a preventative point of view.

wackyfunster

See if there is an Airrosti clinic near you. They are amazing when it comes to this sort of thing.

zenchild

I was hoping I wouldn't have to do that. Oh well. I suppose there are worse injuries.
I'll pick up some sort of ankle support/brace this weekend and look up doctors. I'll wear the brace when I workout and avoid anything that will aggravate the joint. And I'll stay off my ankle when I can.
Hopefully the doctor will figure out exactly what's going on and with physical therapy I'll be able to get at least close to where I would be if I hadn't tried to realize my Olympic dreams.

wackyfunster

Trust me, it is worth seeing a doctor. I stopped being able to squat due to a knee injury I had when a kid (my leg/knee is basically completely without lateral support, which sucks... ended up causing massive compression of my IT band due to overcompensation of the rest of my quad muscles, apparently), and after 3 sessions and daily exercises on my own, I am now squatting with less pain than I have in... forever. Also got rid of carpal tunnel of guyon without surgery. My Airrosti doctor is a freaking miracle worker, I will go there without hesitation for any future injuries.