bad sprain (old-ish) - swimming

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geneva042
geneva042 Posts: 51
in Getting Started
Short info about the whole thing :
I sprained my ankle at the end of june while camping, used the Rest-ice-compression-elevation deal and everything.
There is no fractures (saw the doc a short while back as it still was bothering me)
I can't take ibuprofen (so I'm kinda stuck dealing with the inflamation)
I do have a compression bandage, but I was recommended not to use anything else .
I sleep with my leg elevated. However, working at a desk everyday means I can't during the day.

I started swimming again Monday (since I'm not allowed to hike, bike or do any high impact/aerobic activities for a while) so I can hope to get in better general health. My doctor told me it was pretty much the only thing I could do for a while.

Swam for around an hour, enduring the annoying pain (low to mild) however when I got out of the pool my ankle was swollen again.
I didn't use my leg much, I was very careful about that.

Today it's still swollen and tender, but I'm still planning to go swimming.

Is there anyone here who had to deal with that?

I know the only thing that could help make it worse, is losing weight and the exercise (stretching and swimming)

Replies

  • zoomtech16
    zoomtech16 Posts: 100 Member
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    I sprained my ankle multiple times so much that the doctor said my cartilage is stretched out. Swimming is my main source of exercise, and it still hurts every time I go swimming, but I don't really know what else to do about it. To me it's better than running though because that is a sure fire way for me to roll it again. I heard you can do exercises like on a bosu ball with the ball face down and just act like you're surfing to strengthen the cartilage again, but otherwise it's been about a year for me with this issue, so don't keep rolling it.
  • geneva042
    geneva042 Posts: 51
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    so basically I might be stuck with that for a long time? awesome -_-;
    I don't know how bad is the ligament though, I haven't seen the x-rays, or got a call back from the doc about it (no news, good news I guess, so I know nothing is broken)

    I'll ask if I can have any anti-inflammatory meds that I can take to help before, maybe that should help.

    thanks though :) I'll check for the ball exercise as well! :)
  • rmdaly
    rmdaly Posts: 250 Member
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    Swim with a pull buoy between your legs. Many pools keep them near the kickboards. This will minimize the amount of work that your legs do and you can still swim. Have you looked into water aerobics classes? That might be another option.
  • geneva042
    geneva042 Posts: 51
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    Swim with a pull buoy between your legs. Many pools keep them near the kickboards. This will minimize the amount of work that your legs do and you can still swim. Have you looked into water aerobics classes? That might be another option.

    yea I asked for water aerobic, most class uses a lot of leg movement so I rather just swim lengths and stretches.
    I was thinking about trying the winter session if my ankle is a bit better.
    Monday I couldn't swim lengths for long (15-20mins at moderate intensity) but I went in the deep end and swam there for the rest of the hour.

    I'll go look for the buoy though, I saw the noodles and the kickbord so I'm sure they have some buoys as well.

    :)
  • 365andstillalive
    365andstillalive Posts: 663 Member
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    What kind of ankle sprain do you have? Is it the basic you rolled your ankle type, or something more along the lines of a high ankle sprain (which is really just a nice way of saying that you damaged the ligament that holds the two bones together in the lower portion of your leg)?

    Ankle sprains, of any kind, are really tricky and can take a while to heal. Since you can't take Ibuprofen, I'd definitely be getting into contact with your doctor to a) double check the test you had done but have no results for and b) to get an anti-inflammatory. While annoying, a lot of basic sprains can actually be helped by physiotherapy and the lovely devices and exercises they use.

    I have a high ankle sprain that's about a year old. I got hurt on a job site so thankfully I had partially paid wages for a while, but I was off work for 4 months because I wasn't able to do the walking/standing/climbing it required. Now I'm at a different job, but I still run into issues with it if say I work overtime and end up standing longer than my ankle is used to. I tried swimming a couple times and found that it actually really bugged my ankle because forward and back movements were painful (like raising your toes towards or away from your ankle). Until it heals, you really need to be careful. If swimming bugs it, you need to discuss that with the doctor on the off chance that you even need to stop doing that for a period of time to let it truly rest and heal.

    Take caution with your ankles, they're one of the worst joints to severely injure and if you don't take the time to let it properly heal now it's going to affect your quality of life for life.
  • michikade
    michikade Posts: 313 Member
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    I have a year old nasty sprain myself and while it doesn't hurt any longer, it does still pop and crack and I don't have balance on that leg anymore because my ligaments are still weak and I don't feel confident in running yet because if I were to step just slightly wrong I don't have the balance any more to correct it and could easily sprain it again.

    I wore an ankle brace for at least three months after I sprained mine. If the sprain that you have is just a couple months old, it may not have healed quite enough to do the front-back movements on your foot like that. Now, if you can swim in a slightly immobilized position (so, with a lightweight ankle brace) that doesn't actually aggravate your sprain (I mean no pain), then you could do that, otherwise the movement may be aggravating the healing tissue.
  • geneva042
    geneva042 Posts: 51
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    I really doubt its a high sprain, I did hear a pop, so I know the ligament is damaged at some degree and not just stretched, but I doubt it's completely torn, when I do some stretching it crackles a bit though. I've had a lot of sprains and this one is by far the one that takes the longest to heal.

    I can still function, but it's always of a ''dull warm-itching-pain'' type of pain when I'm resting and a throbbing annoyance/swelling when I do exercise and it takes a couple of days to be back to the ''warm-itching-dull'' pain

    I do a lot of the same exercises that physiotherapy would give me (from what the doctor told me anyway, i showed him what I did) but I don't have any fancy machines at home so I use walls and a chair.

    I do want it to heal, but I don't want to stop the pattern I just started with exercise :S
    I'll check for a ankle brace that can be used swimming though, mine can't for sure.
  • kasaz
    kasaz Posts: 274 Member
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    I sprained my ankle pretty badly last summer. At least it was very swollen and bruised clear up to mid calf. At first I stayed off of it, swam, wrote the alphabet as shown on many You Tube videos to keep the flexibility. After about 4 weeks I started on the elliptical. I wore an ankle stabilizing brace while I did it. I had a 10 day hike coming up in Europe 8 weeks after my sprain and was very motivated to do everything I could. Anyway, my ankle may not have been as badly sprained as yours, but I was able to go. I always use hiking poles now in case I begin to turn my ankle. I think it probably took six months or so to be truly recovered, but it seems just fine now.

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