Over the weekend, I went skiing for the first time, and mangled my ankle. Thought it was broken with the pain and swelling, but x- rays show nothing’s broken. But, I can’t apply pressure to the foot, and halfway up the leg without intense pain. Doctor say’s about 4 weeks before I can really walk on it.
Anybody have an ideas on how I can avoid losing all my strength and muscle?
Also, anybody have any ideas on supplements to take to speed the healing? I was thinking a glucosamine/ chondroitin mix, Vit- C,E,A and some calcium.
Get yourself to a sportsmed clinic, quick! Doctors tell you to stay off it and rest but that doesn’t help reduce swelling and damage. I assume you are icing, elevating and allthat jazz already. Next step is to get ultrasound to keep the edema from building scar tissue around the joint. 1-2 weeks of this folloed by LIGHT stretching and an ice bath for 15 minutes will greatly speed recovery. Plus, you’ll have a greater range of motion and functional stability when the ankle is healed. Keep in mind that even though it’s not painful after a while, ligament damage can take up to or more than a year to heal so be careful. Also, do a lot of balancing drills on the affected leg to help build proprioception (in short, retraining the firing of supporting muscle fibres). If you’re in the States, a sportsmed clinic will cost you so if you live close to a university with an athletic therapy program, you can usually get treatment there for little or no cost. Good luck.
I played Division I Soccer in college and my junior year before the season started I broke my ankle before the season. They thought I would be out 6-8 weeks and I got back in 3 1/2 weeks. It swelled up very bad. I took an unconventional approach. First I got a few massages(trigger point massage NOT ON THE INJURY but near it), arnica extract (herb)applied to the injury (helps swelling), and an herb call OL Number 11 Extract (White Oak bark, Marshmallow, Mullein, Mugwort, Indian Tobacco,Scullcap, Knitbone, Black Walnut Hull, and Gravel Hut). Don’t tell me how these herbs work but I miraculously started playing again in 3 1/2 weeks. The PT’s couldn’t believe it. You also need to start doing rehab to strengthen the ankle as soon as you are able (swelling goes down so you can get some mobility). Something else I wish I had that will help out your pain and swelling is called “Dolgit Creme” (topical ibuprofen creme). Do a search on google to get it. It is the greatest. It is same thing as ibuprofen but it goes directly onto the injury or pain and it is more intense and does not mess with your liver or stomach because very little gets into your blood stream. I use it quite often before I workout chest or shoulders because I have a hurt shoulder. Good luck.
Thanks for the advice guys. I appreciate it!
I’ve been rubbing a salicyn 10% cream on, and following my supplements. The swelling has gone down quite a bit, and I’m getting more mobility. I can’t put any pressure as far as standing on it yet though. Also, when I wake up, or just change position from laying down, I get a 5 minute hot/ pressure in the foot, I presume from fluids building up. Also, I’ll put the ace bandage on to get around, I notice that wherever there’s an opening in the bandage, the ankle fills and sticks out.
About every 15 minutes or so, I’ll flex it a bit to all sides, as much as I can. So it is getting better, but I guess it will be another few days.