Well, wouldn't you know it! I finally get my own rink in my own town; it opened just last week,(after commuting for 5-6 years anywhere from 1 - 2+ hours to skate without any major problems), and within 2 weeks of the local rink being open, yesterday, i either caught an edge while doing some great slide chasse's or caught a toepick hole! Either way my otherwise very strong ankle went one way (completely buckled under) and i went right over top of it! Went immediately to the Dr., and the x-ray tech had left for the day, so he said wait 2 days and then come back if pain and swelling are still there.

I can't even see my ankles! (on either side!)

I was quite embarrased to tell work why i wouldn't be in....you know, so few of us understand the skating addiction!

Oh for heaven's sakes! Go to another doctor or even the ER. Did your doctor not tell you "RICE"? Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate. I would not wait a day or two to get an x-ray. In the worst case, which would be a displaced fracture, every minute that the bones are out of place will extend the amount of time required for proper healing. I hope it's the best case. Do let us know.

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Definitely don't leave it if there's any possibility it could be broken. You must get yourself to the hospital asap and get it checked out. I broke my ankle skating six years ago. I actually passed out shortly after being picked up off the ice but I tried to convince myself it was nothing serious. The guys who were treating me at the rink treated it as a sprain and sent me home. However I wasn't at all happy so got my hubby to drive me to hospital where it was discovered I had a nasty break. I had to be transferred to another hospital for emergency surgery to fix it with screws and a metal plate. Had I gone by the guys at the rink, I could have left it for days in that state and been in a lot of pain. Go get yourself to hospital now! These sorts of injuries need to be dealt with immediately.

Nicki

Well, i waited 2 days like the Doc said, and stayed off it, but went back today and got x-rays. I couldn't believe it when i found out i broke it! I am bummed, because we JUST got the new rink in town! I broke the fibula (is that the right way to say it?) and it is a vertical break and not horizontal. Am on crutches 3 weeks, and then a walking cast 3 weeks.

I thought something was weird when i was sent home WITHOUT crutches and when i started hopping everywhere, kept feeling like something was moving around in there......THank the Lord my daughter ran to 6 stores that day and finally found some too large thrift-store crutches until i got the right size today. Imagine if i had kept hopping on it!

I'm glad you got a diagnosis. I know how frustrating it is to be off the ice with a broken ankle. The good news is that you didn't need surgery so you won't have to deal with the recovery from that. Also you'll get a walking cast so you won't find you cannot walk after six weeks in a cast. I wasn't allowed to bear any weight while I was in my cast so I had to "learn" how to walk again - all my muscles had gone really weak. I hope you heal well and are able to skate a relatively short time after losing the cast. I'm just really sorry to hear that you did break it.

Nicki

I think I must have been really lucky with my break, they put a plate and pins in it (which like Nicki I still have) but I was back on the ice in the same week that the cast came off, only for 10 minutes a day but it got me back into the swing. The only oddity was, that my broken leg was much thinner than my other one , but it soon caught up again.

I think the difference between Nicki and myself is that I was was taken straight to hospital by ambulance so there was no aggrevation of the injury and given a walking plaster after 4 weeks.

Good luck
Grace

Crikey Samba !! How did you manage to be back within a week of coming out of the cast? That's amazing. I remember my first time back on the ice about 6 weeks after the cast coming off and my coach's husband Chris Howarth, had a fit! He couldn't believe I was back on so soon and thought I was totally mad. To be honest he didn't expect to see me skate again but I proved him, and everyone else wrong. I had been told I'd be out of action for 6 months though, so was pleased to be back three months after the injury.

Nicki

Nicki, maybe mine wasnt such a bad break or my bones are just stronger, who can say. One additional thing I had done that most people will probably pooh pooh about, is that I had faith healing whilst the leg was in plaster, I'm not a religous person but was open to anything that would get me back out there as soon as possible.

Cheers
Grace

Sorry you do have a fracture. Hope you find another doctor, I would not trust the one who sent you home with advice to let it go for two days. Had it been displaced, you could have suffered a much worse course of recovery.

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Well, he wasn't my regular doctor, he was the only one i could get who was available at my practice. I dreaded having to wait for hours in the E.R. but perhaps that might have been better.

Anyway, glad i went with my gut because he actually gave me the option of coming back in two days - depending on pain and swelling.

I wonder how long before i get back on the ice....

I can drive, though because it is my left foot! and My good foot is my landing foot! It will be really strong from bearing all the weight!

Thanks for all the advice!

Ah, now I understand. I don't like my regular doctor's partner and hate having to see him when I can't wait for my doc.

Hope you heal up quickly and without complications.

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Driving well <> skating well. Until you have gone thru rehab (while and just after you are off your crutches) I would NOT go back on the ice. The doctor you saw should have told you how long it would be before you go back on the ice again.

Get well soon!!! And post again when you're back on the ice again!

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

<Giggle> I was just about to say "What about the clutch?" (being a very new driver myself) when I remembered that of course, in the USA you have automatic transmission and don't use a clutch.... that must be so weird!

I hope you heal fast.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Has anyone else had anything like this and know that people are talking thinking you're nuts if you go back?

I also have a freakish fear that something else freakish like this may happen if i go back! i really want to return to the ice!

Absolutely. In fact I don't think ANYONE thought I'd make it back on the ice. After the surgery my coach visited every few days and every time I mentioned about coming back to skate she'd say "we'll see". It wasn't until I was awarded the Best Endeavour Award cup by her hubby and our rink manager Chris Howarth, the following Christmas that I found out nobody expected to see me back and of course I got all the "she's got an ankle full of screws and she must have a screw loose to want to get back" type jokes.

It's when you do something again that really makes people think you should quit though. I got back after the ankle injury though I still suffer from it six years on, then in September I fell and broke my wrist. I had to go through it all again and of course people are generally less sympathetic when you break something else, so it was tough and there were times when I wondered whether going back was a good idea, but hey skating is what makes me the person I am today. I accept that if I skate four times a week and I push myself, falls are going to happen. I've just been more unlucky than most in that I've broken bones in the process.

Nicki