Sprained ankle recovery time

[momsk8s2]

As I was coming down a few steps onto uneven ground, I must have stepped on a rock because I rolled my ankle so bad I immediately collapsed. I've had sprained ankles before but not since I've been skating. This one is very swollen and black and blue. I've been icing for the first day, and plan to continue. Coach wants me to see a doc to be sure it's o.k. and find out how long I'll be off the ice. I was planning on skating synchro sectionals in late January. Any advice out there?:cry:

[Elsy2]

Sorry to hear about your ankle! IMO there is no way to judge your recovery. Some sprains will be fine in a few weeks, and others several weeks. My daughter severely sprained her's several years ago, and unfortunately it kept her off for months. We found that massage helped immensely. It was summer, and I let her swim, then jacuzzi and I would then massage in an upward (I think?) motion. Definitely see a sports doc if possible. My husband has a problem rolling over his ankles...old football injury. He says when he does this it bruises terribly, but is fine in about a week. So, hopefully your's will be fine soon!

[ahmskate]

I sprained my ankle badly exactly the same way a few months ago. Then it would click out of position again if held the wrong way. I stayed off skating for two weeks. The doctor X-Rayed it and put on a tubular bandage - this is like a normal bandage in a tube and folded double thickness, the length of the lower leg from the toes to the knee, with the fold at the toes. I also bought a much firmer sports ankle support brace/bandage from a pharmacy.

When I got back to skating, I wore the firmer sports support brace/bandage for about 4 weeks. The doctor told me not to wear a support in bed, because you can get blood clots, but in fact I did wear the lighter bandage in bed for 4 weeks because otherwise the ankle had a tendency to painfully click out of position while I was asleep.

Rather radically, I personally don't believe in icing an injury except when it is very new to reduce the swelling. I think regular hot baths do a lot more good.

My ankle's fine now, but it took about three months to get back to normal. (It was my left outside ankle). Hopefully your Synchro Team will not be practising much until the New Year and you will be able to take a couple of weeks off from skating to rest it. After that it may well be fine with additional brace/support. But do see a doctor ASAP anyway.

[sk8er1964]

Originally posted by ahmskate
The doctor told me not to wear a support in bed, because you can get blood clots.

That actually happened to me years ago. I had a very severe ankle sprain, and the Navy corpsman put a soft cast on me and gave me crutches. Two weeks later when they took it off, I had developed clots in my calf (there were other factors, ie smoking [quit that nasty habit long ago], that caused it besides just the cast). Anyway, I was in the hospital for a week and on blood thinners for about three months. If I had been skating then, it would certainly been out of the question while on blood thinners.

[wannask8]

momsk8s2, my husband, who is not a skater but runs regularly, did the exact same thing (stepped off an uneven curb and rolled hard onto the outside of his foot) last November. Hurt so bad he collapsed on the spot. We headed home and iced it immediately, and the next day he had it checked out by our orthopedist, who gave him an air cast (a portion is stiff support, and you inflate the rest of the support to fit your foot/ankle – he could even wear it in a loosely laced shoe). He also had bruising and swelling, but he was able to run after only two or three weeks (I remember being surprised at the short recovery time). It was a little sore after running at first, but this resolved pretty quickly, and it hasn’t bothered him since.

On the other hand, I still get a twinge now and then in the same spot where I had a relatively minor mild ankle strain over ten years ago from stepping off a high curb in heels on my way to work. Never bothered to take time out to take care of it when it happened (I learned my lesson after that).

Take it easy, rest up (maybe you can get your elves to help out over the holidays!) and hopefully you’ll be back on the ice soon.

-- wannask8

[Mrs Redboots]

My daughter, too, sprained her ankle some years ago now, and spent most of the summer with an elastic bandage on it when she was awake, saying that it was sore. However, one place where it was not sore was when she skated - her skates gave her enough support that she neither needed nor wanted an elastic bandage while she did so, and found they were almost her most comfortable footwear for some time!

So you may find that once the bruising has gone (to speed its passing, use topical arnica cream, and perhaps take arnica homeopathic tablets), you will be able to wear your skates and be comfortable in them. I wouldn't land on that foot for awhile though, assuming that you jump and it's your landing ankle, but there's plenty of other things to do!

[momsk8s2]

Thanks for the replies. I thought I'd post what I've been doing about the sprain for future reference. Post Sprain Day 1: Stayed home with my foot elevated, icing for 10 minutes every hour or two. Day 2: Went out with a friend to lunch (in slippers!) but otherwise stayed home with it elevated and iced. Day 4: Finally got a pair of running shoes on. I can stand on that foot without a problem. Drove for the first time. I have a manual transmission car and the clutch pedal is fairly stiff. It hurt to depress the pedal, but not too painfully. Had a basketball coach (neighbor) look at it. He suggested freezing water in paper cups and doing an ice massage, rather than just having an ice bag on it. Day 4: Tried an hour of Christmas shopping at the mall and had to walk slowly. Swelling is definately going down, but the black and blue areas are spreading up my calf and into my toes. The kids say it looks like I stepped in blackberries. Day 7: Going down the basement stairs is slow. Going up isn't so bad. Had a physical therapist look at it. He confirmed that it WASN'T broken. (If an ankle is broken, and you tap someone's toes, it travels to the broken bone and is very painful.) He suggested filling a bucket with 102-degree water, and another with cold water. 10 minutes in the warm and 2 minutes in the cold and repeat twice a day. The first day I tried that I could barely stand either one, but now I find that it's easy and feels good. My toes aren't quite as dark as they were, and swelling continues to be reduced. I can make out my ankle bones! Day 10: Bought support panty hose to see if that will help reduce the black and blue. I also bought an ankle support sleeve. Tired of using the Ace bandage and I felt I couldn't get it as tight as I needed. I'll post again soon.
Mrs. Redboots: Where can I find arnica cream?

[starlightsk8]

I have sprained my ankle about 4 times and then inbetween that, I have done it, but not as bad. Due to all the times that I have sprained my ankle, I had to have surgery about a month ago. This was to repair the ligaments that I tore all the times that I sprained it. So, just a warning, GO TO THE DOCTOR before you have ot go though what I am going through!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck! :D

[starlightsk8]

You can find arnica cream at any health food store! :-)

[momsk8s2]

Thanks for the info. The basketball coach said it takes about a year before the ligaments are back to normal, and even then, because they were stretched, they are not what they used to be. Most female basketball players now play wearing ankle braces. Did you sprain the same ankle each time? I won't skate until I feel like I can put pressure on it completely. Right now the thought of doing crossovers is scary. :roll:

[Lili]

I sprained my ankle on the landing of an axel a while ago. My leg gave out from under me and I felt the ankle snap. I had to go to PT, and that lasted about a month or two and I was back on the ice in about 2 months.

However when I came back onto the ice I resprained it a couple of times, but not severely enough to keep me off of the ice. I still have problems with it snapping once and a while (about 2 or 3 years later) on lutz and flip entries, but again its nothing to sit out for. I also experience some twinging in the joint, where it can go from being perfectly normal to not being able to walk on it if I am sitting for a while.

My advice - don't do anything you are not comfortable doing. If you get back onto the ice and do not want to jump, then don't. Get your strength back in your ankles and then start doing the harder elements.

Good Luck and let us know how you are doing!