Hes, your Physio speaks sense!
Rob, seriously mate, go get it seen to, better to get something done now, and not be able to run for the time being than not get it looked at, let it repair itself in an even more over-compensated state and then not really be able to run afterward....
Rob, I really think you should listen to Zephr, it sounds like you've torn a ligament and they take ages to fix (and bleed which causes the bruising). Why don't you get it x-rayed to put your mind at rest re fractures and then go and see a physio. Its now been almost four weeks since I did mine and I keep thinking its a lot better but then move awkwardly and realise how bad it still is. I went cycling on a hilly route on wednesday and I couldn't push off on that leg and I felt the ankle all the way round (physio says cycling is fine though) but it did feel good to be keeping my legs strong and getting outdoors again.
Originally Posted by Rob Furness
Last edited by Hes; 05-08-2011 at 08:23 AM.
My advice Rob would be the same as the other guys, get an xray to be sure then its just a case of listening to your body and keep following the RICE thing. If yr still not convinced then don't be affraid to get other professional diagnosis and don't be modest when asked about the pain scale. This is all based on recent my cock up and missed diagnosis so good luck and really hope you get sorted.
I went and had it x rayed tonight, the woman at the hospital was a bit unhelpful to be honest. I got the impression that she thought I was weird for getting it x rayed because I've been able to walk on it. This despite me telling her about previous problems with both my ankles including an avulsion fracture which I could walk on and a ruptured ligament that I could also walk on. I also told her about my mother who broke her ankle and was able to work an entire day on her feet running a pub before finally getting it looked at the next day so it clearly is possible to break it and still be able to walk. I persuaded her to x ray it due to the weird feelings I'm getting in it and the strange lumps etc that you can feel below the skin on and around the lateral malleolus. X ray came back clear (ish) but with an area on the talus that she said was a bit strange but she had no idea what it was and probably wasn't important as that area wasn't tender anyway. I do despair sometimes.
I'll have to go see my GP next week and get a private referral again, the nhs seem to have this strange opinion on ankle injuries that if it feels stable and you can walk on it you haven't done anything serious. Funny how that happened exactly the same with an ATFL rupture last time and it took a year of pestering them that there was something wrong before deciding to go private where the surgeon spotted the likely problem on the first visit, got an MRI to confirm and operated within a week. He also said to me that he could feel a little bit of play in the joint when doing the anterior draw test, but when he had put me under anaesthetic the joint was loose as hell, so it must have been held in place by my muscles alone.
Last edited by Rob Furness; 05-08-2011 at 10:50 PM. Reason: punctuation.....
That does sound all too familiar Rob, I got the feeling sometimes that injury during sporting activities are a drain on A&E resources and if you don't want to get re- injured then stop. When I damaged my ligaments after a grade 2 sprain I wrongly continued running on a compromised joint after a short time. Whilst out running I developed a very acute pain down the side of the malleous area. After hobbling home the next week was spent RICEing every night, after no effect I went to a&e where after a clear xray and some clown prodding for 5 seconds diagnosed peroneal long tendonitis and sent me packing. After a week and only regression of movement I went to gp, he also said tendonitis but referee me to NHS physio. After my second session of physio where I almost passed out twice as they were adamant they could get movement back it was decided that a re visit to xray was needed. Lo and behold a fracture of my fibula, after 5 weeks of walking about and doing exercises recommended by my physio. Two weeks on and hopefully things should be mending but as a comical touch I have recieved a bill today for the anti inflams prescribed for ky tendonitis and a letter of discharge from the physio. So yes I too despair Rob, but hang in there and be persistent.
Last edited by martmason; 05-08-2011 at 11:35 PM. Reason: damn predictive text.
There is some interesting information on Youtube about ankle sprains which explain what they are and how they should be treated and prevented:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0-n-..._order&list=UL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP17Z...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dznWB...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsEV5...eature=related
Little bit of an update on my ankle. Three weeks or so on and things are feeling much better, I've rehabbed it by at first resting, followed by a fair bit of cycling/crosstrainer at home and then progressing to running again with my lace up ankle brace on and it has respoonded well it has to be said. I ran a short club run of 6m in training two weeks ago then 13m last tuesday on the leeds country way with no problems, and managed Burnsall Classic at the weekend and finished that ok too (even if my descending was a bit poor due to lack of confidence). Tonight I did another 9m with the club and not a peep from the bad ankle. I'm planning to continue with the brace for maybe another 4-5 weeks or so to allow proper healing but I suspect that the rapid recovery probably means the ligament ends have become detached and haven't rejoined, which probably means I'll need an op if it continues to cause problems in the future. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it though. For now, things are looking up
Hi Rob, that's great that you are managing so much running and that it feels better. Well done!
I've totally steered clear of running since I tried a 1.5m three weeks into my recovery and realised how things were definitely not good. It will be interesting to compare notes longterm. Its almost seven weeks since I tore two ligaments in my ankle (it took a few weeks to realise exactly how bad it was) and I've been cycling for the last three. Lots of hilly road biking round Masham and Pateley, which has been really good fun and stopped me going mental. I've been walking in the hills with my ankle brace on and was glad of it when I slipped in the mud the other day and tweeked the ligament again...it was momentarily really painful but no lasting damage. I'm going to stick to my physio's advice and keep up with his exercises, use my wobble board, keep cycling and hope to start running on the flat with the ankle brace in a week and then progress from there. Its years since I badly sprained my ankle and although I've had a few problems turning it recently, that has been mainly because my quads and glutes on that side were weaker due to an untreated knee injury so I'm really hoping that I might stand a chance of coming back stronger from both after this rehab. Can't believe you did Burnsall! Not sure whether you are really brave or mad. I did it a couple years back and the thought of the descent with my ankle in its current state makes me shiver!
Just mad I'm afraidI had wanted to do it all year so didn't want to miss just because of an ankle sprain, I think I must fall into the category of fellrunner that just carries on regardless. It's certainly worked ok for me up until now so I'm not planning to change anything. If I stopped running whenever I was injured or ill or whatever, I would never be out doing it. My wife thinks I behave this way as a result of having crohn's and thus being used to just getting on with things.
Like I said though, I suspect there's nothing left of the ligament an that side and hence nothing to pull anymore which is why it has "healed" so quickly. Good luck with yours Hes, sounds like you're doing everything right. I forgot to mention that I've been doing balance stuff too, one thing I find really helpful is doing one leg squats and one leg calf raises (without holding onto anything for support) whilst brushing my teeth. This seems to quickly get the sense of balance back in order.
My update is that I started to feel a lot stronger this week (all the cycling and exercises have really helped) so I tried a tentative run at our club social. It was 2.2m road relays on the flat. I got there late (had forgotten how far away the chairman's house is!) and so I didn't have a team but ran with the slowest leg runners. I wore the ankle brace and it felt ok so I did the fast leg too although I was very slow! I then had a hillier 3.2m road run without the brace on Friday and today I managed a lovely 9.2m fell run with the brace. My ankle feels really good. So much stronger and surprisingly, I didn't feel scared when I was running (the brace will have helped my confidence). I'll keep up the biking and increase the running plus loads of wobble board stuff for stability and strength. I'm thinking of fellrunning with the brace for a few weeks and gradually weaning myself off as I get stronger. A friend suggested swapping it for a compression bandage first to give the feel of support (I appreciate it won't stop me going over like the brace would) to give me a bit of confidence until I am ready to run without anything.
The physio was right. He said it would be 6-8 weeks before I could run again and its been 7. He did say that I shouldn't be fellrunning for 3 months but I am hoping he will think its ok with my brace on and I'm not doing anything too hardcore!
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