Rolled my ankle! Need shoe recommendation

[Gobias]

Hi Everyone,

I am so upset. I received my Power Tower & the last 20 DVDs from my Cathe collection last Thursday. Then Friday morning I rolled my ankle while doing a new step DVD! I inverted it, sprained it, and tore 3 ligaments. I will be put up for a while. I have some foot problems so I need some shoe advice.

LONG POST of my foot history:

*Almost 15 years ago I was doing step and inverted my LEFT ankle. I was stepping off the step backwards and just rolled the ankle. It popped repeatedly & swelled up so fast. I was alone and able to get my shoe off but had to cut my sock off. I was in and out of casts for 2 years. I did some major damage and to this day I have very little stability in my LEFT ankle. In fact, when I extend both legs out, my right ankle is almost pointed to the ceiling but my left ankle just flops inward to the ground. Since this happened so long ago, I am very aware of my instability and subconsciously am always thinking about every step. I can do stable aerobics (treadmill, elliptical, stepper, step mill, rower) but am unable to run outside and have a hard time hiking fast on rocky terrain. I have always loved step aerobics and have tried it off and on the past several years. I recently just started again on a regular basis in January. I am very aware of every step I take during step aerobics. The only good thing about now rolling my LEFT foot (rarely) is that since it is so floppy, when I fall and roll it it doesn't do too much damage since there is nothing left to tear/pull. (gross, but true)

*1 year ago, last April, I was in a motorcycle accident and had both legs in a cast. My right foot/ankle healed perfectly, but my (bad) LEFT foot was severly damaged. The ankle was fine, but the bike landed on my left foot and crushed every bone (28) in my foot. I was unable to have a cast on it for a long time due to the swelling and couldn't even put a sheet on my foot or have the ceiling fan on since the air blowing across was excrutiating. I was in a wheelchair for about 6 months. When I was able to put pressure on my foot, the ball of the foot (bottom and inside) caused so much pain. I went and bought Skecher SRT shoes (similar to those Skecher Shape-Ups). This allowed all of the pressure to be applied to my arch and none to the ball of the foot. I can walk all day in those but the minute I take them off, I feel my foot ball hurting. I can even run in those on my treadmill w/o any pain, but was unable to do step aerobics in them due to the rocking instability. So, I went and bought Reebok RunTone for step aerobics. These have TONS of cushion for the ball. However, there is no lateral stability. I think this is why I rolled my ankle.

MY QUESTION:

Does anyone have shoe recommendations. I am looking for the following:

*Shoe with great lateral stability. I would love to have high-tops but they don't seem to make those anymore. I've seen semi- high-tops but they are more like low-top regular shoes to me. I really need ankle stability. Or at least a low top shoe with really great lateral stability.

*Since most shoes don't have the cushion my ball of foot requires, I need a shoe insert. I have looked everywhere for the past year and can't find what I need. All I seem to find are inserts with arches (which I don't need and actually cause me pain) or full inserts that I also don't need. I've even bought full inserts and cut them to have just the ball part but it didn't work (not cushiony enough). I have seen gel heel cushions but I need them for my foot ball. I recently found gel cushion for the ball but it is for high heels and therefore shaped like a tear drop - whereas I need the entire ball covered.

*Or perhaps someone knows of a good brace I could wear on my ankles to give more stability. I have a great brace, but it doesn't allow me to rotate my ankle at all. I was then thinking of wearing 2 ACE ankle bandages just so I am aware of my movements.

I know many will say to give up step, but as bad as all this sounds, I was doing really well until last Friday when I rolled my good RIGHT ankle. And I really think it was because of the shoes I was wearing. They have great cushion which is a must for my left ball of foot but absolutely no lateral stability (the tops and side are all mesh). In fact, those shoes I would recommend for DVDs such as HiiT - all the jumping impact is lessened with all the cusion.

ANY ADVICE/IDEAS WOULD BE APPRECIATED! I have all but 3 Cathe DVDs and want to use them!

 

[karenflyz]

I roll/sprain my ankle a lot and need shoes with great lateral support. I recently bought Asics Gel Intensity and like them a lot. They have awesome lateral support, arch support and cushioning. Here's a link on Zappos:

http://www.zappos.com/asics-gel-intensity-w-white-cherry-silver

Karen

 

[RapidBreath]

I hope this helps

I hear your pain!! I used to roll my ankles a lot and I have in the past terribly broken bones in both feet (shattered my right foot 3 days before I graduated from college.) For right now, you must let your feet heal. This includes rest, elevation (I know boring right) ice and compression.

I'm suspicious that you never healed properly from both injuries. This is why you are so unstable. You really should get that foot looked at by a specialist because the ball of your foot shouldn't hurt that bad all the time.

Your ankles are unstable because you are weak in that area. I think a physical therapist would be the best solution to what the core issue is, weak muscles and possibly scar tissue where it shouldn't be. There is massage therapy for scar tissue, but I gotta tell you, it hurts.

I found that running off road on soft surfaces pretty much cured my 'weak ankles'. If your bones are breaking, you may be short on lipids. Without enough fat in the diet, bones become brittle and break more easily. My surgeon had me wrap my feet, take ibuprofen (she said it helped with the remodeling of bone.) and drink vit. D fortified milk. I normally wouldn't drink milk but it did work. I'm much stronger now, my bones don't break nearly as much as they used to and thanks to the off road running, my ankles are much stronger too. I don't know if that helps. Other symptoms of a too low in fat diet include dry hair, brittle nails, and a lack of flexibility. I used to not be able to touch the tops of my feet with my finger tips and now I can place my whole hand on the floor without any difficulty at all (needless to say I failed PE in school.)

Alisha

 

[DirtDiva]

*Or perhaps someone knows of a good brace I could wear on my ankles to give more stability. I have a great brace, but it doesn't allow me to rotate my ankle at all. I was then thinking of wearing 2 ACE ankle bandages just so I am aware of my movements.

I messed my ankle up bad when I got stuck in my clips on my mountain bike. I wore these for a bit of time and they really helped out. http://www.muellersportsmed.com/Lite_Ankle_Brace.htm

Then I graduated to a soft pair for inside the house, http://www.muellersportsmed.com/Ankle_Adjustable_Stabilizer.htm

I would also up my Vitamin D3 intake too. Salmon oil and MSM would be beneficial...good luck!

 

[Gobias]

Thanks everyone so far for the recommendations. Any more advice/recommendations will be appreciated.

Karen - I will definitely research those shoes. Thanks so much for the link. Before all this happened, I had Asics and really liked them.

DirtDiva - are you able to wear each of those braces with shoes on? It kind of looks like it, but I can't quite tell. I am hoping to wear a brace while I do step (and mountain hike) just so I am aware not to roll my ankle. Kind of my own homemade high-top shoes! Oh, I have a boyfriend & friends who have gotten caught in their road/mountain bike shoes. Either by "forgetting" when they came to a stoplight or from falling off the side of a mountain. Not pretty - sorry to hear about that.

RapidBreath - You are correct. My LEFT ankle never healed fully from 15 years ago (sprain, torn ligaments, muscle, tendons - no break). I went to multiple doctors, surgeons, physical therapists, chiropractors, massage therapists, TENS units, ultrasound therapy, injections, etc for the past 15 yrs. I am told it is as healed as it will ever get. Multiple surgeries, casts, and therapies later and I still don't have stability. I seriously have done my own therapy on it almost every single day for the past 15 years and that has at least made the surrounding muscles stronger, but it is still floppy/unstable so I have to be aware when moving on uneven terrain. For some reason I accumulate scar tissue at a high rate and no more surgeries were recommended. I break up the scar tissue nightly with rotations, pulls, stretches. You are correct - not fun! I was told I would have been better off breaking it, so they could have set it and let it heal.

My LEFT ball of foot that was injured (crushed) - I was told it would be a yr + to heal and I am at the year mark. It was recommended I get 3 surgeries putting bolts, screws, removing bone and clip some nerves (AFTER the swelling went down in an estimated 6 months). I was not fond of that idea and let it heal for awhile on my own. I was in a wheelchair for 6 months then used crutches/cane for the next 4 months. In the beginning my foot was so swollen I seriously thought I would get stretch marks on my foot! I was constantly getting fluid/blood removed since it would just accumulate. I really crushed it so the year + healing made sense. After I was off the crutches/cane I could walk in my skechers toning shoes (due to the fact all pressure was put on arch, not ball) and eventually could walk barefoot in Jan. Then in Jan I started doing step aerobics and stepper machines and the ball would flare up. So I got the Reebok RunTone shoes (major cushion in ball...but no lateral stability). I do my own therapy on the LEFT ball and LEFT ankle daily and it has helped. I am glad I didn't get the surgeries recommended since the ball of foot is fine as long as I have cushion now. (finding cushion for just the ball seems to be a hard chore).

Now I rolled my RIGHT ankle! I think it will heal pretty fast since I have not been on it at all and am able to keep it iced and elevated. I just know it was because the shoes have no lateral stability.

Thanks for the other advice. Trust me, I get enough fat in my diet!!! (but that's another post, another time). I'm already on high Vit D, MVI, my weakness is dairy products (hence all the fat in my diet!) and I drink approx 1/2 to 1 gallon of milk per day since I was very very little. My parents used to just set a gallon out every morning for me and it would be gone by night. To this day people snicker at me since that is mainly what I order/buy when we go out. (of course they all buy pop, so what are they snickering about?!?)

Sorry to hear about your bone breakage (I've never had that problem) and glad it seems to be getting better for you. You made me laugh about failing P.E.!

Again, thanks all - it is nice to come here for advice. Any other recommendations are welcome.

 

[DirtDiva]

DirtDiva - are you able to wear each of those braces with shoes on? It kind of looks like it, but I can't quite tell. I am hoping to wear a brace while I do step (and mountain hike) just so I am aware not to roll my ankle. Kind of my own homemade high-top shoes! Oh, I have a boyfriend & friends who have gotten caught in their road/mountain bike shoes. Either by "forgetting" when they came to a stoplight or from falling off the side of a mountain. Not pretty - sorry to hear about that.

While you are healing you need rigid support. The soft support isn't going to help you outside, its really important. I was told when I busted up my foot that its all about the ligaments working with the muscles so you don't roll the ankle again. It works something like this, the ligament is damaged along with the nerves, and when you step on an uneven surface the muscles don't perceive it fast enough because of the damaged ligament/nerves. That's why you need the rigid support because it prevents the actual roll until you are completely healed. You can wear them in the shoes, but you need to have a shoe that isn't too small. I bought a pair of trail running shoes that were a bit loser. The best thing is to retrain and strength the ankle through your rehabilitation. You have been through the ringer! Good luck!