Getting Back From Bad Ankle Sprain Advice

[VermontSkier]

Hey ballers, I am looking for input here regarding returning to skiing following an ankle sprain.

 

About ten days ago I took a pretty bad fall on my opening pass at 22' of 34mph. I was in a weird head space after a weird week, and after turning the one ball I (according to the spotter) leaned really far back and launched over the wake and then proceeded to rag doll. My foot did come out of the binding. I ride on a radar vapor with a carbitex front binding and RTP and keep the top lace loose (might go even looser now on the whole boot). Still, the fall was bad enough and must have been more to the side than an OTF which must be the reason my ankle got injured. For a couple days I could not put any weight on the foot without severe pain but now I am walking, usually in an aircast, and riding the road bike a lot without pain. The swelling and black and blue is gone but the ankle definitely needs some more rehab and exercise.

 

I guess I am basically curious about what you did to get the ankle strong again and how long you waited to start skiing. Did you tape your ankle? This is definitely a case-by-case basis as all injuries are different, but I am bummed and really want to get back to skiing.

 

Thank you for input and advice!

[ALPJr]

Just my opinion. Don’t rush it. Ankles take time. Have a orthopedic doc check it out, and order physical therapy as needed. I tried to power through ankle injuries for a few years but struggled with nagging strains, sprains and a couple fractures until the doc set me up for therapy. I still work on the strengthening and flexibility exercises that the PT showed me.

[RGilmore]

Agree with @ALPJr - ankles take time. But it IS still summer, so...

 

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". You can go proactive by either learning to properly tape your ankle, by consulting with a Physical Therapist (on Youtube, of course). OR - something a friend of mine did for a while - use a THIN, high-quality lace-up ankle support, which you should be able to get used to under your Radar boot. (maybe re-mold the liner if it's really bugging you).

 

IMO, of course.

[Minelickskier]

As a guy who hurt my ankle skiing last summer, I agree with the above post. You may not be back fully this season. I was mostly the boat driver for several weeks…swimming will probably help with therapy, along with exercises like writing your ABCs with your toes and foot. That helped me.

[igkya]

Not knowing how bad an injury it may have been, proper taping will help. Also, going to a double boot system will help reduce the chances of this injury recurring (I speak from experience)

[2Valve]

About ten years ago I took a bad fall in the course and thought I sprained my ankle as I could sorta, kinda walk on it. Went out of town for work and walked/limped on it for a week before seeing a doctor. And it was broken. Actually, the 5th metatarsal but since I walked on it all week, the crack only worsened. My stupidity resulted in a full leg cast for 14 weeks.

 

Took another bad fall just three weeks ago with a very sore ankle and this time, went to the doctor that day and luckily it was only a deltoid ligament tear, which she said would heal in 2-3 weeks with a brace and daily P.T.

Look up Alphabets for ankle sprains. With those, I started skiing last week.

 

But most importantly, get it properly diagnosed foremost.

[svxwilson]

End of last season I wrecked hard and had a sprain and dislocation combo. Binding eventually released just not as soon as I needed.

 

Took 2-3 months before I was starting to feel 70% confident on it. Also by that time I had transitioned from water to snow and was skinning for my turns in AT snow ski boots. It took 4-5 months till I had no pain and was back to 100%.

 

I wore an ankle brace the first few months for work because I am on my feet all day on concrete shop floors. I don't think I would have tried to ski had it been an option during the initial phase. But maybe yours isn't as bad as mine.

 

Something to consider, is back when I played competitive soccer and would play through stains and sprains. I would wrap it and tape it professionally. It always seemed to take significantly longer to heal and turned into a nagging pain that never seemed to go away back then as a teen.

 

Glad I didn't push it. Ankle feels great this season and I re adjusted my bindings (Syndicate hardshell front, xmax rear) and have had similar falls this season and no Ankle problems, released like it was supposed to. My mistake was having my new hardshell binding too tight.

[Deanoski]

Swimming helps

[steeliejunkie]

I did something similar to you last season. A lace up ankle brace fit inside my radar boots fine and was very helpful. But it was a solid month before I skied, and even then I was only gently skiing, just to be in the water. Took 3 months before I was truly comfortable.

[rockdog]

I had a tail blowout second set back start of last season and strained all ligaments in the rear foot. Missed the whole season. Physio tells me because of the limited blood flow it can take longer than you would expect for it to repair itself.

[skialex]

In my case some 14 years ago, key was the absolutely no movement for a week. Doctor put my foot in a tight cast with some torque. After a week of total stillness, removed the cast and started swimming. Another week and with taped foot, started running some passes, like a couple and out...

Fourth week and I was ok to continue my season, had to tape the ankle for the next 6 months. Never had any issue after that and totally forgot about it in about a year, never felt any pain after that.

Good luck with your rehab.

 

[OldboyII]

21 days of recovery is a golden standard for joints injures.

[VermontSkier]

This is all very helpful to hear. I did get x-rays the day after and luckily no broken bones. Im getting more mobility every day but the tendons are still a little sore. Probably will pay a visit to a PT to get things moving in the right direction. Thank you all for sharing your experiences, hopefully I can salvage some skiing this summer/fall even if its just easy passes.

Luckily there is a lot of good beer in Vermont to ease the pain.

Cheers!

[Moskier3ev]

Agree with @ALPjr! I thought sprain. Went to ortho I ended up with tightrope surgery. Rehab… I think I rushed recovery. But my ankle is solid now.

[A_B]

Many years ago I had a similar fall and had a late release in hard shells and tore the inside of my back ankle to shreds.

 

Blood flow is critical.

 

I did duck walks which is walking on the insides and outsides of your feet, the sit on a chair by a door and use the door to resist against turning your ankle in and out, calf raises on steps to increase blood flow several times a day. Stretching is key also. Dr said I would have been better off breaking it and only saw that inside ankle issue in car accidents.

 

I found that when shopping with Mrs AB it was easy to do duck walks around the clothes racks. We did those in basketball conditioning drills and I think k they are great for skiing. When I remember, I still do them today.

 

[RGilmore]

@A_B I think any doctor who recommends duck walks is probably a quack.

 

[A_B]

@RGilmore I am not a Doctor, but I have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express...

[Drago]

@VermontSkier I recommend you heal 93% before you attach a 5 1/2 foot lever back on to your 3-foot leg with a slab of sticky rubber around the 6 or so bones that hold it all together.

[Timr71]

@VermontSkier - I had your exact injury happen to me on Friday June 18th of this year. My fall sounds just like yours. Going into ball two after crossing the wake. Yada yada yada, my left foot (front) ripped out of my boot. My ankle looked pretty bad with both swelling and bruising. I did the ice / ibuprofen routine and didn't ski any more. 8 days later I went to my ortho, he said to take it easy and do the usual stuff, stretching, strengthening, etc. At my last check up, he wasn't pleased with how it looked, so I got another MRI and was sent off to PT. MRI showed severe bone bruising. That's what's causing it to still be swollen larger than my right.

 

I've had 5 PT sessions and that's helping a lot. I was able to run 600 m on the track yesterday. My range of motion is slowly coming back. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to resume my running training for my fall races starting next week maybe. My ankle hurts enough that I think that it would be a struggle to even get it in my ski boot.

 

I may try some easy skiing in a week or two. Good luck with your recovery. I will pass on this...my ortho said that I had a probable partial tear of such and such ligament. He's always said that I could do stuff like ski, run, bike, play tennis, etc as long as there isn't pain. But he also cautioned that if I tore the such and such ligament, he'd have to do surgery and that it would never be the same. BTW, my sports ortho is highly regarded. I'm in Birmingham, AL...home of sports orthopedists. Pro athletes come here to get fixed up.

[VermontSkier]

Thank you all so, so much for the insights and sharing your experiences. I have resigned myself to getting my ankles stronger and working on rehab. I am back to walking normal now but still some soreness, hopefully I can start doing some easy skiing soon. I also purchased a lase-up brace.

 

@Timr71 I'm also a big runner not being able to run has been a bummer. Hope you get back on track for your fall races!