Ankle injury going on three weeks! Any advice appreciated please.

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philbo Sep 2013 6:48pm, 29 Sep 2013 1,106 posts	0 philbo What SharonD said a.s.a.p.
Revbarbarag Sep 2013 6:52pm, 29 Sep 2013 639 posts	0 Revbarbarag I sprained my ankle 7 weeks ago - a proper turned my ankle on a rut and fell over injury. Only a mild sprain, as I could walk on it - but swelling, bruising, the works. I had three weeks off running (though I did cross-train), and have been running, cautiously, for the past 4 weeks. It still feels weak, and although it doesn't hurt when I run (still cautiously, and not quickly), it does ache afterwards. I read that even moderate ligament injuries can take 12 weeks to fully recover, i.e. get back to full strength, so I am not worrying. But I am rehabbing it: I am wearing a support when I run, and I am doing strengthening exercises regularly. Standing on one leg, calf raises, heel drops, single leg dips, various squats and lunges. They are not completely comfortable, and my ankle is not as stable as the other one - yet! That is why I need to do them. Little and often, and definitely not to the point of pain. Ankle injuries take time to heal.
Revbarbarag Sep 2013 6:57pm, 29 Sep 2013 640 posts	0 Revbarbarag Oh, as far as a support is concerned, an ordinary tubigrip should be fine for the level of pain you're talking about. I wore mine 24 hours a day for the first week (as even in bed my foot flopping sideways was uncomfortable), during the day for the second week, and now just when training. I'll continue to wear it when training until such time as both ankles feel equally stable/strong when standing on one leg, hopping etc. At the moment, I wobble much much more on my injured one.
MissChappo Oct 2013 7:48am, 5 Oct 2013 13,260 posts	0 MissChappo I've managed to get referred to a physio and been given some strengthening exercises/stretches to do in the meantime.
Revbarbarag Oct 2013 9:12am, 5 Oct 2013 655 posts	0 Revbarbarag Oh, keep us posted how that goes! It's now 8 weeks since I sprained my ankle, and although I can run without pain, it is still not right.
PerfectOrganism Oct 2013 2:02pm, 10 Oct 2013 129 posts	0 PerfectOrganism I finally think that my ankle is starting to get better. It's gone from feeling painful to feeling tight and weird, but it's certainly a better sensation, and an encouraging one! I had an X-ray yesterday to hopefully rule out a stress fracture and will probably go and see a physio of it comes back clear.
HappyG(rrr) Oct 2013 2:10pm, 10 Oct 2013 21,163 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) PO, have a wee look at the Achilles pain thread? Various folk there with similar symptoms. Seem to be a very broad range of experiences, but almost all (live RevBarb and others) go back to gentle exercising on it and just accpet that it takes a while to heal. I found this encouraging. You do need to do the exercises and other healing activities that folk have listed, but you may not have to stop training altogether. http://www.fetcheveryone.com/viewtopic.php?id=51298 Good luck. :-)G
PerfectOrganism Oct 2013 1:49pm, 20 Oct 2013 130 posts	0 PerfectOrganism Thanks Happy. I had a quick look, but will check properly later. I googled "achilles" and the pain i'm experiencing doesn't run down the back of my ankle, but rather on the outside. However, I did find a very helpful image showing another tendon in that area called the peroneal tendon and that is located more where I am experiencing pain. I'm still waiting on my X-ray results to come back, and assuming it's clean I will book a physio appointment as I have started working again recently so should be able to afford it.