ankle supports

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I've managed to tweak my left ankle on Rombalds Moor wednesday, inverted it and heard an awful creaking noise, it didn't swell immediately and after a minute of "oh dear I appear to haver hurt my ankle" or words to that effect:w00t: I managed to run another 3 miles on it fairly easily.
Now a bit bruised and tender, luckily our surgery has a physio and he has examined it today and it's fully stable so only grade 1 or 2 sprain at the most.
I have a BG training run wednesday and want to invest in a decent ankle support, any sage advice from more experienced forumites re which is the best brace in their opinion would be very much appreciated, thanks:thumbup:

[Hes]

When I tore 2 of my ligaments last year, I had a McDavid ankle brace as recommended by my sports physio and it certainly kept my ankle supported and gave me confidence. Unfortunately 9m of fell running in it and it gave me blisters but I have noticed that they do a lightweight version that looks far more comfortable but looks to have the same bracing. You can get them on Amazon.

[Erich K]

Sorry to hear about the ankle Mark, it's always worrying when you get an injury just as a major challenge is approaching (like the Fellsman you're running later this month!). I damaged my ankle this time last year and it put me out of action for almost 4 months. I had to rely on cycling until my ankle was strong enough to run again. The physio I had helped initially but mainly it healed itself - it just took a loooooooong time. When I started running again I just used that flexible elastic bandaging you can buy - the sort that sticks to itself not your skin. It was an easy solution that helped me build up confidence over the first couple of weeks and didn't rub or interfere with my running shoe. I wasn't sure I could get an ankle brace to fit in the right place for my particluar injury. The lightweight McDavid ankle brace that Hes suggests sounds good though.....

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Cheers Erich, it's not too bad now actually, I'm going with MartynP on thursday to do Leg2 of BGR, should test it out nicely. In the end I opted for a £9 neoprene adjustable brace from Argos and it seems to work well.
Hope the Blubberhouses went well.

[DrPatrickBarry]

McDavid ankle brace

My ankles are not great at the best of times and I am just wondering what is the theory behind that brace. It does not look stiff enough to actually stop sideways movement of the ankle, or is it mean to?

[Erich K]

Cheers Erich, it's not too bad now actually, I'm going with MartynP on thursday to do Leg2 of BGR, should test it out nicely. In the end I opted for a £9 neoprene adjustable brace from Argos and it seems to work well.
Hope the Blubberhouses went well.

That sounds just the ticket - good luck with the BGR leg and let us know how you get on. Blubberhouses Moor 25 was fab - superb weather despite the forecasts and some stunning views (and cake) along the way!

[Hes]

The one I had is really stiff but it is a heavierweight version, kind of like faux leather so not very flexible and I definitely couldn't move my ankle much at all except to flex my foot forward a bit. It has removable plastic inserts that keep the ankle from being able to move sideways too. The lightweight version looks like it is the same except softer material instead of the leathery stuff so it probably wouldn't cause blisters so much but it also looks like it has the plastic inserts so your ankle wouldn't move sideways either.

I moved on to a Boots neoprene ankle support (got fed up with the blisters and lack of movement in my leg) which gave me confidence and kept the ankle warm but that wouldn't have stopped me going over on it whereas the McDavid one would have.

If I get a chance and can find it, I'll photograph the McDavid one so you can see the construction properly...its a bit dirty though! I wouldn't recommend it for day to day running when you are injury free though because its so cumbersome and you end up running stiffly on that leg which has caused me to have compensation issues in the other leg.

My ankles are not great at the best of times and I am just wondering what is the theory behind that brace. It does not look stiff enough to actually stop sideways movement of the ankle, or is it mean to?

[creaky]

have a look at Active ankle....apparently used by a lot of orienteers.