Let’s just make this simple. My right ankle collapsed and rolled (right side of right foot touched floor) with 115lbs on my back and my ankles still messed up after almost 5 weeks. It got a lot better, then it got a little worse. It doesnt hurt when I walk. I can jump and sprint and stuff fine, but this injury hurts especially when I roll my ankle inwards or outwards, or do a calf raise. Pain is around the back of the heel slightly but mostly AROUND that bone on the outside of my foot
I’m not asking for a diagnosis or anything, but what I do want to know is, am I dealing with something very serious? If it doesnt hurt to sprint on really, does that mean it’s safe to sprint on? How can I treat this? I heard ankle injuries are very stubborn to heal, but I really don’t want to have to wait months for this to heal, if it ever will =/
Your best bet is to take some time off from running and get some quality therapy. Ultrasound worked really well on mine, along with massage. I wouldn’t sprint on it because you can be asking for bigger problems to develop, not just in your ankle, but in the rest of your lower body because you will probably (and subconciously) run slightly different to compensate for the injury.
I get mine done at my school. If you go to a physical therapist you can try there or try to get a doctor to prescribe you treatments for one (lol good luck with that).
The following might be of some help -please feel free to comment on this, as I am not an expert in the area!
Jogging, which is often overlooked by many regarding it as non-necessary, but it is…
You need:
flat surface,
dry surface,
shoes with flat soles.
You can start by running short distances as your ankle/pain dictate (e.g., 100 m on first day, if you can run further, fine). Increase 50-100 m per day, if everything is progressing well.
Run on a straight line (not zig-zags).
Sprints,
of short distance initially and of up to 80% intensity,
jogging with sprints -combined,
progressively increase either intensity, or distance, or both depending on severity,
after the daily programme, apply ice on the area if irritated -worth doing so anyway…
Hops, since they help your balance
on both legs,
on injured leg, fast
on injured leg, slowly
If you can do these with no problems, progress to jumps -100 reps is a good indication of strength/endurance of injured leg.
Jumps,
on both legs,
on all directions (forwards, backwards, right, left).
Coordination Drills,
walking backwards,
running backwards,
running upwards on stairs and walking downwards (more difficult),
running upwards/downwards on stairs -watch out for irritation,
running from left/right side of cones/athlete,
running on sport’s shoes -wherever this applies to,
cuts in 45, 60 and 90 degrees from both right and left while running,
running in circles in direction that stretches the ligament,
running in circles in opposite direction -later on,
running in 8s
running in Zs
running sideways -both directions- with leg crossing over and behind the other.
Event Activities,
playing the game alone -wherever this applies,
playing the game with 1-2 athletes, etc
introduction of trampolines
progressively increase intensity of event activities.
Back to Event/Game
only when neuro-muscular coordination is good -as indicated by reaction on trampolines
Hope this sequence is of some help!
Please, again, feel free to comment on this!
Ice the heck out of it tonight, Wednesday until Friday. Make sure you wrap the ice on tight. Follow this schedule: Every two hours ice for 1/2 hour. For example its 11:00 pm EST right now. You would ice until 11:30 then again at 1:00 am. Don’t ice while you are sleeping. Only during waking hours. I will add more info in the morning. I’ve just finished with my last athlete and its time to eat dinner.
All I can say is that when you get injured you want to get back to 100% as quick as possible and at the same time do everything you can to maintain what you have already got/improve other aspects of your training but WITHOUT SLOWING DOWN RECOVERY.
It would be better to maintain 50% of what you’ve got and be 100% in 4 weeks than maintain 80% and be 80% in 4 weeks, because until you are 100% your training will by the very nature only ever be as good as you are (your body is still putting energy into healing so it can’t allocate so many resources to adapting to training) and you will be more likely to get reinjured. It is hard to swollow in the short term but in the long term you will do better.
EMS for strength on quads, hams, glutes, erector spinae and pulsing for lower leg to increase blood flow and aid healing (I assume you have sprained some ligaments).
Leg extension, Leg Curl, Hip Extension, Adductor/Abductor machines - this is one time when machines can actually be useful! Use highish reps (8+) and slow smooth movement - you are just trying to maintain strength not develop explosive power.
Hyper extensions holds to keep the glutes and hams strong but try to set up the machine so you arn’t using your ankles for support.
ULS, my mistake. I didn’t read the entire post.
Can you squat glutes to calfs with heels on the floor? Your pain reads like you have an abundance of non-elastic scar tissue. Also, you probably have some ligament laxity which is causing joint changes which may be causing pain. Or you may have osteochondritis dissecans which could be a source of pain. Did you ever have it x-rayed? Casted?
On crutches?
I can do deadlifts and squats just fine. Lifting doesn’t hurt. Walking can be done easily. I can sprint too, but let’s not risk it. It’s lateral movement of my ankle plus calf raise motion that hurts(don’t ask how come jumping doesn’t really hurt, I haven’t figured that one our).
I don’t know why I’m hurt really, I can’t tell you. Some tendons or ligaments or both must have gotten stretched really badly, because my foot was on its outer side while my shin was vertical, and then some more. Add in the factor of falling with a barbell on your back and youll get the idea. I have pain on the outer side of my foot, all spread around a big area surrounding the bumpy bone, like the top of my foot too kinda. When I move it how it was injured, now it feels like it’s sore or something, but the pain has increased. I don’t know why, I’ve been keeping off of it!!!
Davan- You know I love deadlifts bro, if youve checked my journal at bb.com youd see I guess I could do deadlifts, but lately this week I’ve felt weak and messed up
tc- Thanks man. I really should get the ems machine huh.
ULS, reads like you turned your ankle severely. Any chance you can get it evaluated by an AT, PT or ortho? With that much inversion plus a load, you probably have a bit of instability.
One exercise you can try is just doing some one leg balancing. Squat as deep as you can and stay there for up to 30 sec. Make sure you are keeping the gluteals as tight as possible. There are progressions from there, but you must be able to stay rock solid for 30 sec.
I’m not a big fan of band work for most ankle injuries, but in this case I would begin some. Just to tighten the ankle joint a little. You won’t get it as tight as what you where born with, but its better than nothing.
Nik, Yes, good stuff in there. With nearly 20 years in the physical prep of athletes I’ve abandoned the tradional methods of ankle rehab and use some of the principles you’ve listed. I’ll address each number.
Running is good if you can do it. I like to start out with what they can perform pain free. If its 20 meters than thats all. I introduce accelerations early if I can. Sometimes an athlete can run easily for
100 meters but ask them to explode and go hard from a stop and its painful. Sometimes I have them stand up and ride a stationary bike before moving them onto the ground.
Good substance. I almost always use ice at the end regardless of how they feel to offset any renewed pain or inflammation.
& 4. Nice thinking, however I would only use the injured leg and maybe only if their sport required them to jump, the athlete’s size and other injuries up and down the chain. There are many progression from here.
Great, many of these can be performed walking at first before the athlete can run.
Very good, using small games or certain aspects of the game. Probably the most important phase of rehab and the most overlooked.
I wouldn’t use the trampoline as a tool for judging whether an athlete can get in the game or not. For example, an athlete may be able to master standing on the tramp and all the progressions that follow but not be able to strike a soccer ball effectively.
Rather use your eyes and see how the athlete performs in the small or segmented aspects of game.
I would also add balancing on one leg. Deep squat. One leg exercises, GMs, DLs, RDLs, heel raises, hopping with lateral pulling with bands. Stretching of posterior muscles. I will write a whole progression of one-leg exercises and balancing drills when I get a chance.
Nik- Yesterday jogged 100m, today did 200m :D. No pain in jogging, but then again I can sprint pain free really so I dunno what to make of it. Ankles feelin a little better though. Do you think I should progress up to a mile jog?
Tom- You are the man! I think I’m fortunate, considering I can actually sprint with no pain, so this is a good sign. ACTUALLY, what seems to hurt me are either weighted calf raises even with light weight, or machine toe press, so I don’t know if I should do heel raises.(Also lateral(Rolling) motions, but I said that already heh) I don’t know why, but it just hurts my ankle, but somehow I can sprint/jump fine?? Go figure
Thomas,
thanks for your time, I appreciate it! Good points in there!
Hopefully it’ll help UnlimitedSteel and other members of the forum -in case they need it :eek:
Looking forward to your next post!
UnlimitedSteel,
even if it feels ok and you are pain free, I would still progress slowly over time; give it some time to get some strength back and be patient, boring, but important!
Short accelerations would be good, if you can manage them.
From now on I would follow Thomas’ instructions, as I am not an expert in this field; the above sequence of mine is just from notes I had and thought it might helpful for you and others here!
I guess I could do deadlifts, but lately this week I’ve felt weak and messed up
