Hurt my ankle exercising, advice?

hollyeverhart
hollyeverhart Posts: 397 Member
edited November 10 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi, so I am doing the 30 day shred, I am now on day 13. About 4-5 days ago while doing the "high knee" cardio I put my right foot down and felt a shooting pain/pinch and kept exercising figuring I just stepped wrong. It continued hurting into the next morning, I still did 30ds wed, thur, fri, sat, plus working as a dancer friday & saturday night (in 8 inch boots!). Sunday it hurt so bad I physically could not make myself do my workout, I am still disappointed in myself for skipping a day. I rested my ankle yesterday, woke up today and did level one & two of 30 ds to try to make up for yesterday. Now I am limping around in pain. I have never had a workout related injury, I am not sure what is my best course of action to get my ankle back in good shape. My other ankle is starting to feel weak now too, I think I am putting more weight on that one now due to the pain in my right ankle. Help please? and if your advice is "stop working out for a few days" I really do not want to do that.

Replies

  • carrie_eggo
    carrie_eggo Posts: 1,396 Member
    and if your advice is "stop working out for a few days" I really do not want to do that.

    Sorry, that's what I was going to say. It won't heal unless you give it time. Do upper body workouts or walking instead of 30DS.
  • hbrittingham
    hbrittingham Posts: 2,518 Member
    Inner or outer ankle? What shoes are you wearing to work out?
  • PinkEarthMama
    PinkEarthMama Posts: 987 Member
    Stop doing the 30 DS.

    Can you tape it?? Ace bandages aren't much help.. an ankle brace would be better for the short term you might need it.

    I ignored what felt like a minor ankle injury.... and I have now had 2 surgeries and might be looking at a 3rd. I tore the deltoid ligament and calcaneal ligament... and ruptured the 3 lateral ligaments.
  • Jolenebib
    Jolenebib Posts: 142 Member
    You don't want to hear it, but the ONLY thing that is going to make your ankle better is not using it. Especially with 30DS which involves running, jumping, etc which are can be hard on healthy joints. Ride a bike or swim. Low impact is the best option. Tape it and ice it. The last thing you want to do is keep doing what you are doing because it sounds like its just making it worse.
  • yesthistime
    yesthistime Posts: 2,051 Member
    and if your advice is "stop working out for a few days" I really do not want to do that.

    Sorry, that's what I was going to say. It won't heal unless you give it time. Do upper body workouts or walking instead of 30DS.

    I second this. Switch to non-weight bearing exercises (Google this term for ideas) until your ankle heals so as not cause permanent damage.
  • hbrittingham
    hbrittingham Posts: 2,518 Member
    You may have to take off a week or two, but better that than to damage your ankle so badly that you can't exercise for a much longer time.
  • hollyeverhart
    hollyeverhart Posts: 397 Member
    Inner or outer ankle? What shoes are you wearing to work out?

    Bare feet but on very thick carpet. Should I be wearing shoes? I really don't want to mess my carpet up with tennis shoes. Inner lower ankle, its slightly swollen as well. Hurts to put weight on and also hurts if I touch it/wear shoes.
  • hollyeverhart
    hollyeverhart Posts: 397 Member
    I really don't want to give up 30ds right now, but if thats the only way I need to find a way to burn the same calories and still do the weights in 30 ds, maybe just no jogging/jump rope/jumping jacks/high knees. This is so frustrating! I stretch before/after every work out, more then jillian michaels does in her warmup/cooldown. Its crazy how bad you can hurt yourself just stepping down wrong.
  • cask16
    cask16 Posts: 196 Member
    Aww hon I feel your pain. I also hurt mine around day 12-13. Its just swollen I think but as I walk a lot each day to and from work (about 4 miles a day all told) it'smaking a very slow recovery. I was seriously upset with the idea of stopping the shred when I was feeling so proud of myself. Instead I'm still doing it but replaying jumps, twists (ankle impacts) etc with squats or squat punches (the walking to work I camt do anything about). Being able to do most of the workout has made me feel a lot better. Hope it recovers soon!
  • hbrittingham
    hbrittingham Posts: 2,518 Member
    Inner or outer ankle? What shoes are you wearing to work out?

    Bare feet but on very thick carpet. Should I be wearing shoes? I really don't want to mess my carpet up with tennis shoes. Inner lower ankle, its slightly swollen as well. Hurts to put weight on and also hurts if I touch it/wear shoes.

    You probably need to get some shoes with good arch support.

    I am just recovering from an injury to my ankle in the same place as it sounds like your injury is. The problem is, the more you push it, the worse it will get (trust me, I found that out the hard way after doing two runs after the initial pain). I had to force myself to do NO cardio for 5 days and limit my weight bearing on that ankle for that time period. I used heat and two different ankle braces. I also switched to a good pair of running shoes with inserts from a running store. I am on week three of the injury and I can do the arc trainer just fine, but I don't know if I will be able to start running this week or if it will have to wait until next week.

    You need to rest it as hard as that can be or else you will seriously damage the tendon. Hang in there!
  • subigirl
    subigirl Posts: 53 Member
    Definitely, ditto on working out with shoes with good arch support, even when just doing a video in your living room. I always wear my workout shoes when I workout at home.

    In the mean time, sounds like you strained something. Go to Walgreens or CVS and get a good ankle sock/brace. Don't get it too lose, you want it a little tight. You don't necessarily need anything with boning, but you do need the compression. My son has had some nasty strains in football, and he always gets a compression sock from the school's trainer. As said before, the Ace bandages don't work for anything...you need some sort of compression sock. Usually, my son will come home with something like this on:

    http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/therall-joint-warming-ankle-support/ID=prod4172461-product

    or like this:

    http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/otc-professional-orthopaedic-pullover-elastic-ankle-support/ID=prod2630306-product

    Sometimes, the trainer will combine the two.
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