Sprained Ankle - now what?

bubbles100

bubbles100

Cathlete
I'm so upset! I sprained my ankle this morning when is slipped on my step doing a CTX workout. It is VERY swollen. I've tried to keep it elevated, iced it, rested, and taken Motrin. It's just getting bigger.

I can do some upper body workouts and crunches, but how the heck long will it be before I can do cardio? I've been making such great strides in my training and weight loss, and this is such a dissappointing setback.


Margaret
 
Check with your doctor...the usual rule of thumb is 6 weeks for a really bad sprain. I know my sister was on crutches for 6 weeks after badly spraining her ankle. She had to have a tension bandage on it too.

I had a cast on for 6 weeks after breaking and having surgery to my ankle. I found the crutches really increased my upper body strength. I did leg exercises with my good leg using ankle weights while sitting on a chair or lying on the floor. You can do the leg drills in KickMax with your good leg while your bad leg kneels on a chair too.
If you do end up on crutches, go for lots of long walks (this will give you your cardio and strength training at the same time). If you do you'll be going up the fire pole at the park (using only the strength of your arms) and be able to do a crazy number of chin ups. At least that's what I found.
The important thing is allow your ankle to heal completely so that you don't have repetitive injuries with it.
Hope it feels better soon!
 
I was going to avoid the doctor. DH seems to want me to go too. Maybe you're right. six weeks is a LONG time.

Margaret
 
Your doctor might tell you it isn't sprained, and just to RICE it a few days. (There's always a possibility!!)

Take it slow, and see the doc.
 
i can only recommend you to a doctor but i am sending healing vibes your way.hopefully it will heal up soon.

kassia

When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be
disappointed to discover they are not it -- Bernard Bailey
 
Margaret,

I'm so sorry about your ankle! I sprained my left one a month ago ( I fell while walking downtown, stupid ankle wouldn't even straighten back up to walk on, and NOBODY offered to help me!!!) I have to say, it was the most painful injury I have ever had. It puffed up to the size of an orange, and turned every color it could. I took it real easy, but after 2.5 weeks, was able to ride the bike and this past week, I could do LoMax and KickMax with little pain.

I kept it iced and elevated, too, but also had a compression wrap on it to help keep the swelling down.

I hope your ankle heals soon!!!!!

L
 
Sorry about your ankle. Don't despair, I have had several sprains that felt terrible, but didn't take long to heal. Stay off it for a couple of days and ice it. When it feels better, try doing an excercise with a litte less impact. If you have access to a gym, maybe try swimming or using a cross trainer. That's what I will ususally do until the injury feels 100%, then and I will start with step. Just make sure you don't push yourself and listen to your body. Hope you are better soon!:)
 
Margaret, I'm so sorry about your set back. Last spring I sprained my ankle doing CTX All Step it was so discouraging at the time. I shifted my concentration to upper body work and seeing results there helped ease the frustration of not being able to go all out like I'm used to. You've got some good advise here, RICE is invaluable when dealing with a new injury. Be patient with your poor ankle, I think it's better to baby it than to ask too much of it and risk re-injury. I love the All Step workout but will never forget where it is that I crashed, I am hyper careful with my grapevine down the board, sashay over....

Hope you feel better soon:)

Take Care
Laurie
 
Margaret-

So sorry to hear about your ankle. I also sprained my ankle badly in August. I stayed off of it for a few weeks and slowly got back into exercise. Be sure to keep a bandage on it if you are on your feet a lot. I am on my feet most of the day at work and the swelling just wouldn't go down. I finally ! went to the doctor after about 8 weeks and he gave me a brace and sent me to physical therapy which was very helpful. I guess all sprains are different and heal differently so if it still bothers you after a couple of weeks see a doctor. They can at least give you guidelines on what kind of exercise is ok! I hope that you get well very soon!

-Thea
 
Take it from this medical professional, there are only two prescriptions that work for a sprained ankle: Time and Patience!

X
 
Thank you all for the advice. The swelling is down a bit this morning. I was going to try chest and biceps or shoulders today. I hate taking time off from workouts. Maybe I'll just relax today and start back up tomorrow or Monday. This is a great place to get advice and comfort from fellow athletes.

Margaret
 
Margaret-I have sprained both ankles multiple times and tore a tendon once (guess I'm a klutz!) and I don't think you need to go to the doctor unless you think it's broken. They won't do a thing for you except maybe give you a "boot" which you can buy at your local drugstore, maybe even Walmart. It's just a plastic type boot thing with a couple of metal bars running up along the sides, to keep the ankle stable.

If it truly is broken, plan on no serious cardio for about 6 weeks. If you try to go back sooner, you could make it worse and be down for the count longer (take it from my experience ha ha).

Upper body and core is possible, and there are lots of floor leg exercises you can do. Sorry about this-I know it's tough!
 
Margaret - I'm soooo sorry about the ankle - and I can totally relate. Sprained mine about 6 weeks ago. Doc said no working out for 3 weeks - that was like a death sentence. I took 3 solid days of nothing but rest, ice, elevate, etc. Then, on the 4th day I was too antsy. By that time I could put some weight on it, but not too much. So for a few days I did upper body. After about 6 days I could put my weight on it with the air cast, so I could do full body weight workouts like ME, and MM. Also the whole gym styles was available. For cardio, I walked on the teadmill - still wearing the air cast, and I could also use an elliptical.

After about 2 weeks I tried HSC, but still couldn't do things like the fast foot repeaters. About two and a half weeks later I could do light runs - still with that air cast on. At the full 3 weeks I was back to full form and could do the high impact cardio and Cathe's step. Just be careful - because once you stretch those ligiments they can go out on you again very quickly. But I feel your pain my dear. Take it slow - get that air cast - and in a few days you can do the weight lifting stuff and feel ok. Good luck!

Lorrie
 
I'm so sorry to hear about your ankle, Margaret. I'm sure you're very frustrated!

In addition to upper body workouts, have you ever thought about trying some Pilates? I always seem to forgo Pilates for the sake of weight training, cardio and yoga, but when I regularly incorporate it into my rotations, I really notice a difference in my core strength. If you haven't done it before, this might be a good occasion to do it regularly for several weeks to see how you like it and if it works for you. There are lower body exercises you can do that probably wouldn't hurt your ankle.

I hope you feel better soon!:)
 
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