need advice on healing injury

[Joannafit]

i sprained my ankle 17 days ago. i had a xray to rule out a fracture. the pain is markedly reduced, as is the swelling and bruising. i have been wearing an aircast. i am thinking about resuming my workouts. when i do not have the cast on, my ankle feels "wobbly and weak". however it feels stabilized and pain free when i have the cast on. i was going to do the ellpitical tomorrow at the Y. Do you all think i am being senseless or sensible. The doc stated activity as tolerated. i also am thinking about a moderately paced outdoor walk instead of the Y. obviously, i would stop at discomfort and plan on wearing the cast. i have never been injured before, so i am not sure when to start back. thanks everyone!

 

[tneah]

Personally I would walk tomorrow, ice, rest and then see how you feel. if your ankle and foot swell after the walk, then tomorrow maybe ride a bike. Take it easy for a few, and you will not regret it. I understand injuries, frustrating as heck, but you have to respect the healing process. You have the rest of your life to workout right? What is a few days?:7 Get better soon!

 

[spyrosmom]

I'm going to go with tneah on this one. I'm very restless and often when coming back from an injury do too much, too soon and it will only make it worse!!! I'm working on fixing a knee right now, and so far I've been good, and I only have to make it 2 1/2 more weeks. Take it easy now, listen to your body and you'll save yourself some potentially big injury later. I would say walk or ride the eliptical, but maybe only 1/2 or 3/4 of the time or distance you'd normally go, just to see how things work out. You can always add more the next day, but you can't take away if you over do it. Your ankle is prob just wobbly because the muscles have atrophied a bit from lack of use. Once you start using it again, they should be back to normally fairly quickly, you haven't been off it that long. Good luck and a speedy full recovery!!

Nan