Ankles

Cheesed off! About 12 years ago i had a climbing accident when i pulled a loose block from the cliff i was climbing on. I fell about 35-40 feet and landed on my heels and hands (very scary seeing all the gear pop while i fell!). Both Calcaneous were fractured and various other bones in the ankles were broken along with lots of soft tissue damage. The doctors wanted to fuse the ankles! I was told i would never run again! Two weeks after they took the plasters off i walked up Snowdon ( camped overnight at the bottom of cloggy, so i suppose it took two days! It was a little painfull.) I now have quite weak ankles, i went over on one yesterday and can't run tonight ( ok on the bike today though ). I remember reading in Feet in the clouds about standing on one foot with the eyes closed to strengthen the ankles. I was just wondering does anyone have any advice/ ideas for ankle strengthening?

Cheers, Steve.

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Originally Posted by skennaugh

Cheesed off! About 12 years ago i had a climbing accident when i pulled a loose block from the cliff i was climbing on. I fell about 35-40 feet and landed on my heels and hands (very scary seeing all the gear pop while i fell!). Both Calcaneous were fractured and various other bones in the ankles were broken along with lots of soft tissue damage. The doctors wanted to fuse the ankles! I was told i would never run again! Two weeks after they took the plasters off i walked up Snowdon ( camped overnight at the bottom of cloggy, so i suppose it took two days! It was a little painfull.) I now have quite weak ankles, i went over on one yesterday and can't run tonight ( ok on the bike today though ). I remember reading in Feet in the clouds about standing on one foot with the eyes closed to strengthen the ankles. I was just wondering does anyone have any advice/ ideas for ankle strengthening?

Cheers, Steve.

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I once badly sprained my ankle, obviously nothing like as severe as what happened to you. The affected ankle is still weak at times. Standing on one foot with your eyes closed was also recommended to me by the physio. He also suggested standing on the weak foot and juggling with two socks. Proprioception can also be improved by using a wobble board

A work colleague was just telling me about wobble boards. Sounds like the kind of thing i could make.

hiya, i had right ankle problems when very young, something to do with it not being formed properly, i had surgery (many times) to correct it, some of it's fused so i have reduced movement, therefore, when i run, i have a limp which makes me look like i'm injured when i'm not, it's just the reduced movement. However, this ankle was badly twisted also when i was in Ta so has always been weaker and after big runs, swells and hurts. usually goes down after a coupl eof days, all back to normal. I just have to take the pain, dont let it beat me, and take aniinflamatories and pain killers, only way to sort it

Just spent the last hour looking at wobble boards ( very busy, boss. ). I think i may order one. If they do all they promise, 17 quid is a bargain!

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Originally Posted by skennaugh

Just spent the last hour looking at wobble boards ( very busy, boss. ). I think i may order one. If they do all they promise, 17 quid is a bargain!

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I got one cheap out of TK Maxx, in amongst the ladies exercise equipment (light weights, yoga mats, etc.). Think it cost about a £5? Might be worth a look.

I started using it to build my proprioception as once I started fell-running, every other step turned my ankle and was very sore afterwards.

Seemed to work. I think the idea is to try and stand on it and distract yourself somehow - get someone to throw things at you to catch, close your eyes...I do arm curls and squats with dumbells on mine. Also tried the trick of standing on one leg whilst cleaning my teeth (cheers FITC) and whenever I stretch my quads.

You could also try balancing on a couple of cushions or folded over pillow for a low budget effect. You can buy wobble cushions too, not tried them though. I've sprained my ankle three times recently and find I'm susceptible when tired, e.g. after a really hard run or trying to squeeze a second run in.

You could try also one legged slow squats. Do both sides. You can do quite a bit with a wobble board, not just balancing. Controlled tilting back to front, side to side, clockwise circles, anti-clockwise. Try chucking a ball, or closing your eyes when you get cocky.

Have turned the same ankle four times. This time I thought I would try and build the strength up. Apperently when the ankle is damaged it reduces the ability to detect if its not level ( there is a fancy word for this starting with p but i cant remember it!) It has certainly worked, I not only feel more confident I can also stand on one leg a lot better (for the quad stretch). Srenghth building can be done by standing on one leg, perhaps when cleaning your teeth or boiling the kettle - building up to eyes shut. You can also start by standing on a cushion - dont let the wife catch you- or a hot water bottle. It is worth the effort.

Looks like I have been beaten with the good advice!

Cheers guys, the wobble board is ordered.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how ankle proprioception is affected by existing injuries around the ankle? I'm recovering from an inversion sprain, and after 4 weeks of contrast bathing and 2 weeks of wobble cushion i felt like going for a run on some grass. My ankle inverted in exactly the same way as it did originally but at the point of discomfort all the muscles instantly relaxed and left the joint free to fold over, it cracked and i hit the floor. From the point of discomfort onwards there was no effort from any part of my leg to counter what was going on, it went limp as a dead fish.

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Originally Posted by mr brightside

Does anyone have any thoughts on how ankle proprioception is affected by existing injuries around the ankle? I'm recovering from an inversion sprain, and after 4 weeks of contrast bathing and 2 weeks of wobble cushion i felt like going for a run on some grass. My ankle inverted in exactly the same way as it did originally but at the point of discomfort all the muscles instantly relaxed and left the joint free to fold over, it cracked and i hit the floor. From the point of discomfort onwards there was no effort from any part of my leg to counter what was going on, it went limp as a dead fish.

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I've done my ankle several times and each time it's taken ages to stop going over on it all the time at any opportunity. Stick with it, you're doing the right things but it does take a while. I've got a lace up brace you can borrow to give it a bit of a rest if you want to get running on it again without damaging it. PM me if you want, I'm only five mins from you I think.

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Originally Posted by Rob Furness

I've done my ankle several times and each time it's taken ages to stop going over on it all the time at any opportunity. Stick with it, you're doing the right things but it does take a while. I've got a lace up brace you can borrow to give it a bit of a rest if you want to get running on it again without damaging it. PM me if you want, I'm only five mins from you I think.

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I won't be running on it for a long time, i've decided that the bofra champs is over and done with as is the summer pretty much, it's going to take a couple of months just to get back to where i was yesterday. I've put my name forward for the FRA relays so that's the current target i think. Cheers for the offer though.

Seems your in the same place as me Mr B, I have finally conceeded and decided to write the summer off due to my ankle. One thing I will do differently next time is stop and sort it rather than try to carry on. Its now been 4 weeks and I can just about walk without a limp.
Hope your recovery is speedy Mr B.

Have a look on pponline. There is some useful stuff on ankle injury prevention. And it's a very interesting site.

The pponline site seems to be blocked on most threads because i'm not a member. I doubt there's anything on there that i haven't heard before as regards rehab and prevention, i was just curious about specific human reflexes regarding the deployment of damaged tissue. The human body has many uncontrollable reflexes such as the mamalian dive reflex, i'm pretty sure my body's response to the use of sore tissues was to inhibit the muscle contraction altogether. In this case it did me far more harm than good.

How is the ankle now? I've just had quite a bad sprain, was hoping to be back running in two weeks and I am not liking what I am reading! I was thinking of doing a bit of road running to start?

Matt, if its any help to you, I had a bad sprain in early July. I tore two ligaments and I didn't run for about 7 weeks but started cycling after 4 which helped to keep my fitness and spirits up. My first runs were on road and then I ran in the fells using a good quality ankle brace (McDavid as recommended by my physio) which really helped my confidence because I knew it was unlikely to allow my ankle to go over again. I then graduated to an ankle support and did my first race since injuring it on 25th September followed by Langdale Horseshoe a couple weeks later. I still 'tweek' the ankle now and again which is painful but its holding up ok. Do lots of strength exercises and ones to improve your proprioception...there's lots online. I think that will help you recover quicker and also lessen the chance of reinjury. I know lots of people run regardless and may advise you to here but for me (and with my physio's advice), firstly it was too painful and secondly, I wanted to limit my chance of reinjury and thought time out to recover properly was time well spent. I still went back sooner than I was told to but I got impatient.:)

Hope that helps and hope you get better soon.

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Originally Posted by mattp

How is the ankle now? I've just had quite a bad sprain, was hoping to be back running in two weeks and I am not liking what I am reading! I was thinking of doing a bit of road running to start?

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Thank's for the advice Hes. Not sure how bad mine was but they said it was a grade 3 at A & E so not sounding good. I will certainly give it a few weeks and take your advice about the strengthening stuff. Maybe see a physio next week to get some more tips. Cheers.

keeping the ankle thread going.

i had my right ankle ground down inside after i ruptured a a couple of cysts. this is healing ok and is much less painful. my left is in a bad way though, consultant wont do the same op as there too much damage and he cant guarantee the results.

his next option is to wait till it gets worse and have it fused, any one know any hill goers with fused ankles?