lateral ankle sprain (CF?)

This thread has been really useful for me so thanks to everyone and sorry to hear you've just hurt your ankle today Rob. I sprained mine three weeks ago coming off of Robinson and heard a snapping noise shortly before feeling very sick. Had to slither down on my bum and then hop to the road. I got it x-rayed at A&E the next day and they said that it was probably torn tendons. I've had three weeks of hobbling about and now the bruising has gone and most of my foot is the normal size except around the joint which is still quite swollen and it has gone sort of solid!

I've just ordered a wobble board from Amazon and today I managed a slightly uncomfortable (but not unbearable) 1.5m run on the flat and a careful yoga session leaving out any movements that hurt. The Tree position (stood on one leg with other bent with foot pressed against inner thigh of supporting leg) seems to be a good one for interim conditioning before my board arrives. I'm going to go and see my sports physio too though. I'm desperate to get back on the fells but want to make sure I give myself the best chance of not getting a repeat injury straight away.

Be careful Hes, I went through a similar process after an initial ankle sprain, visiting A&E , physio etc but after 5 weeks still no progress (including physio exercises). My last physio session was done with a specialist how very quickly had me back down to x-ray to find out my fibula was broken. :-(

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Nice!

Hi Martmason, thanks for the post. As an update, yes, I think you are right to be cautious. My physio is a sports physio and deals with rugby players, football players and runners and he understands fell running. He has had a good look at me and says that the diagnosis at A&E was a bit out and that I've torn ligaments not tendons and that I won't be fell running for about three months (although I'm counting the three weeks since I did it in that). He's set me loads of exercises to do using theraband, a cushion (moving to a wobble board) etc and has recommended that I keep fit with lots of cycling, keep my overall strength up with various core exercises and squats etc and in a week or so he suggests that, if I must run:), I run on the flat only with an ankle brace. Basically he says that at this stage, if I go over on it again, my ankle has lost the ability to stabilise me and that a further injury will be much more serious and I'll be looking at surgery.

Running is a passion for me, it keeps me sane, healthy and gets me outdoors. I can't bear the thought of not being able to run in the longterm so I'm going to bite the bullet and take the time off now, get on my bike and do the exercises. He also said that he will push my ankle further than you'd normally need for general day to day use and road running and get it strong for the fells. His attitude has given me confidence (despite my initial disappointment) and maybe I'll come out of this better in the long run (excuse the pun).

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Originally Posted by martmason

Be careful Hes, I went through a similar process after an initial ankle sprain, visiting A&E , physio etc but after 5 weeks still no progress (including physio exercises). My last physio session was done with a specialist how very quickly had me back down to x-ray to find out my fibula was broken. :-(

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Watch it Rob...that's exactly what mine looked like only mine was a bit less hairy.:D

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Originally Posted by Rob Furness

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Nice!

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Originally Posted by Hes

Watch it Rob...that's exactly what mine looked like only mine was a bit less hairy.:D

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This is about the 5th or 6th time I've done it to that ankle (the other one I had an op on after a fully ruptured ATFL) and this is probably the worst so far but not by much, the last 4 or 5 times it has swelled about the same but not been quite as badly bruised. I suspect that was caused by having no choice but to continue to run on it to get myself off the hill and back to the car, and no chance to cool it down (last time it was bad I dunked it in a beck for several minutes soon after doing it) until I got home which was about an hour after injuring it.

I'll be taking things steady for a bit when it's feeling better, and will probably still run the fells but with a lace up brace on. That worked ok last time.

Only you know what you should or shouldn't be doing and I hope that you recover quickly and are back out there soon.

For what its worth, my physio said that we runners are our own worst enemies because we just want to get back out there asap and don't do the appropriate strengthening and reconditioning or allow the healing to take place and he said the result is repeat injuries and usually the injury is worse each time until surgery is required. He gave me all the technical reasons why it would be ill-advised to run on my ankle at this stage and I am going to heed his advice. I'm no wuss and I ran through an untreated knee injury over two years ago which was the reason why I ended up seeing him last year due to all the problems caused by compensating with my other leg and not reconditioning the injured one. That's just me though. He did advise an ankle brace for running on the flat in a few weeks but not as a longterm solution which he said would be the conditioning that I'll do over the next couple months and preparing ankle to get used to the stretching, balance and load bearing required for fell running.

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Originally Posted by Rob Furness

This is about the 5th or 6th time I've done it to that ankle (the other one I had an op on after a fully ruptured ATFL) and this is probably the worst so far but not by much, the last 4 or 5 times it has swelled about the same but not been quite as badly bruised. I suspect that was caused by having no choice but to continue to run on it to get myself off the hill and back to the car, and no chance to cool it down (last time it was bad I dunked it in a beck for several minutes soon after doing it) until I got home which was about an hour after injuring it.

I'll be taking things steady for a bit when it's feeling better, and will probably still run the fells but with a lace up brace on. That worked ok last time.

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Hes's physio sounds like he knows his runners to me! My ankle injuries are an annual delight now, except this year i've had to write off the whole spring/summer instead of trying to wing it. I've never had any luck with trying to run through ankle injuries, my latest is a pretty nasty Anterior Talofibular Ligament strain, and all the strength has left my ankle completely. My only saving grace is that the Strid Wood trail has around 1000' of climbing in it.

That's the same ligament that I've damaged Mr B. Really hope you get better soon.

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Originally Posted by mr brightside

Hes's physio sounds like he knows his runners to me! My ankle injuries are an annual delight now, except this year i've had to write off the whole spring/summer instead of trying to wing it. I've never had any luck with trying to run through ankle injuries, my latest is a pretty nasty Anterior Talofibular Ligament strain, and all the strength has left my ankle completely. My only saving grace is that the Strid Wood trail has around 1000' of climbing in it.

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I'm starting to wonder if I've done something serious to mine. It feels stable enough but the bruising is mental, my whole foot is purple including my toes and I have bruising as far up as about a 3rd of the way up my lower leg as well as serious swelling, especially after a day on my feet at work. I've been using compression socks whilst working to try and keep the swelling down but it hasn't helped hugely. It's really odd feeling as well, if I press my fingers into the swollen area and then remove them, it leaves a deep dent in the skin which takes a few mins to fully disappear. It's also still really uncomfortable to walk on nearly 6 days after doing it. First thing on a morning it's almost impossible to weight bear for several minutes until it warms up a bit.

I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and go get it x rayed :thunbdown: