Ankle sprain

[ken4ord]

So this last weekend I sprained my ankle really bad, which I thought I had done before but not like it is now. I know the standard procedure is RICE. My question how long does it take before I am able to stand and gimp around on it? This accident happened last Sunday and I still can't stand on it and need crutches. I had x-rays and there are no breaks, could they have been wrong? It seems I should be able to stand on it.

[minx]

many eons ago, when i was just a young lass. ok, a few years ago when i was a drunk WSU coed, i stepped oddly off of a curb at the pea and lentil festival and ended up w/what was described by the ER doc as a "3rd degree/severe sprain of my right ankle" hurt so badly i wanted to puke. crutche all the time for 1 week, off and on for the second. used the lab bench to hobble around the 3rd week. by the 4th week i was walking w/a good limp but moving pretty well. good luck!

[dberdinka]

I recently broke my ankle. No way I could have walked out of Dragontail (much less the Smoke Bluffs) on it. Seems like a lot of climbers have injured their ankles, I imagine lots of people will have detail to add.

 

Do you care to give us a mini-TR on the accident? My partner and I had a near catastrophe on the Fin two summers ago when he knocked loose a suitcase size block that hit the rope, tugging him off for a 30+' winger, and came within a foot or two of braining me. Could have been ugly.

[matt_warfield]

A severe sprain will take as long to heal as a break and feel just about as bad. Good luck with the healing period.

[gslater]

I can imagine that a severe sprain could easily take longer to heal than a break. Some bones grow back together pretty quickly.

[ken4ord]

Alright here is the detail dberdinka. Paco and I were at the top of the Fin, which at that point is the end of the route, at the time we did not no this so I was going to climb this short corner just the hell of it, but the crack had ice in it, so I traversed out of the corner and above a ledge that I was going to climb down to. Before I started climbing down I want to flick the rope around the corner lower so I wouldn't have rope drag issues later. While I was flicking the rope with my left hand, my right hand hold broke. I fell maybe ten feet onto a rock ledge, landing somewhat on my heel of my left foot, felt it give out and saw it roll in an unatural postion, then hit with the palm of my left hand. It immediately swelled right up, once intial shock and stream of cuss words ended I set up an anchor and belayed Paco over, contemplating what to do. I knew I had tape and drugs, so I pop my shoe off carefully did a quick check for bleeding and taped it up and put it in my approach shoes before it got to big to fit in my shoes. Pop some oxycodone and packed up shit.

The pain was way worse than when I blew out my knee which was the most intense pain I had felt so far. I tired putting weight on my foot and I couldn't. So I hopped on my good foot up to the crest, traversed accross the talus and scree to the snow slope, where I was able to lie on my pack and slide down. By the time I got to the bottom of the first snow slope the drug had started to kick in, still could feel pain but not as intense as before. Hop my way to the top of Asgard Pass at that point we met up with MisterE and M Layton, I borrowed one of there ice axes and continued the slide down Asgard Pass. At the bottom of the snow MisterE had some poles (thanks again) I was able to use to hobble out. It took a grueling 8.5 hours to get out. We were at the car 10:30 in Seattle at 2:00 released from the hospital at 5:00 sleeping at home at 5:30.

Most of the injury is more in my foot than it is in my ankle, I have pretty good range of motion in my ankle and I would say it is a minor sprain, my foot though is blue and swollen.

[slothrop]

Ugh, what a long day that must have been.

 

Work at maintaining range of motion so that scar tissue doesn't build up in the wrong places. As much as the pain allows, rotate your ankle and twist your foot in as many directions as you can. Write the alphabet in the air with your foot. Keep things moving.

 

The first 2 or 3 days are a critical time, so be serious about the RICE and the swelling will soon go down considerably. I'd guess you might give it a week before you try putting much weight on it, but I think pain is a pretty good guide. Don't try to be a toughguy, though, and reinjure the damn thing.

 

Progress eventually to doing simple exercises like balancing on one foot, walking on heels or toes, hopping side/side & front/back (one or both feet), and stepping up/down stairs. Do these exercises with concentration, slowly.

 

Read cc.com and to heal the pain of reading everyone else's awesome trip reports. Get well fast!

[shapp]

I am going through the same problem right now. A few weeks ago my wife and I went an a big road trip out to North central montana in Havre. On the way out we went rafting, hiking, hit some hot springs, etc. Once we got the the family reunion, I jumped out of the motorhome late at night (while sober) and twisted the hell out of my ankle. I still am gimping around and can't climb. I had x-rays out there in Montana in Big Sandy, it felt like going to the Vet. I am supposed to have a followup here and will probably get and MRI. BTW you can't tell much from an x-ray, only if it is broken. My co-worker had a bad sprain about 9 months ago while playing soccer and still isn't healed and he's going to have surgery soon. I hope mine heals soon cause I had a lot of climbing plans for this summer.

Good luck with your recovery

Shapp

[dberdinka]

Well, at the very least, congrats on a burly self-evac. You sound like one tough mofo.

[Bronco]

ken,

 

I had a severe sprain last year and it took 4 months to get back to running comfortably. Your mileage may vary.

 

Good luck.

[terrible_ted]

I sprained my ankle last July. The ligament didn't rupture, although the doc claimed it ripped a little bit and pulled some bone off. 2 weeks on crutches, another week with the ankle brace. I was gimpy for the next month. It was very readily re-injured (i.e. easy to accidentally "re-roll it) for the next 4 months. Watch out for this! I starting using an ankle brace for my home improvement (hauling stones, cutting firewood, etc..) tasks.

 

Even with regular stretching/range of motion/balance activities, I have a mass of probable scar tissue just below the ankle. My masseuse commented that deep tissue (well, as deep as you can get - it's only an ankle...) massage of this area the first few weeks after the injury might have helped prevent this. You might want to fold this into your rehab. bag 'o tricks.

 

When I hike for extended periods of time or with a heavy pack, it hurts. Not enough to leave me crying in the fetal position, but enough to know that it's there. Traversing is the worst. There may be bone chips/spurs etc. left in there, but I'm not going to pursue anything until after the summer climbing season.

 

When folks say it can take a few years to get over severe sprains, they probably aren't bullshitting. I used to do all of my long approaches in Tevas, even with 50+ pound packs. It was more comfortable for my toes, and I had strong ankles. Now I don't.

 

Best of luck,

 

-t

[ken4ord]

Well it looks like I have to be patient. It also looks like I have never really sprained my ankle bad until now. This sucks, oh well.

[Dru]

one time when i was a kid i had a log roll over on my ankle on the beach and sprained it but good.

 

it was my left ankle that was sprained and while it was healing i kept accidentally standing on it and cursing with the pain ( foul mouthed little kid!) and wishing i had sprined my right ankle and not my left.

 

well one month later just when my left ankle had healed up what should happen than i dived off a deck into shallow water and sprained my right ankle!

[ScottP]

(snip) i dived off a deck into shallow water and sprained my right ankle!

 

That would make you a cephalopod, hence, I suppose, all the past squid references.

Got a 3rd degree ligament tear a while back that the doc said would require surgery to avoid the torn ends rolling over and forming a weak reconnect. I had it done and am glad I did. Despite injuring the ankle since then, it seems it is as strong now as it was before I completely separated the ligament.

[Dru]

naw it was a cannonball jump, silly

[addie]

i broke my ankle in march climbing and i still cant run on it without pain... its stiff all the time and hurts often. . .

 

can you get to a PT?

[ken4ord]

Yeah I can get PT, but at this point I think it is all about the RICE. I pretty much got my flexibility back now, just got to wait for the swelling, bruises, and dull pain to go away.

 

Bummer about the ankle break, but it sounds like you are still able to get out, which is a good thing.

 

 

[icegirl]

I sprained my right ankle really really bad (falling off a horse at a horse show no less, did the second half of the program in on boot and one tennis shoe)

 

I was gimped up for like 5 months (it was in HS) even though kids are supposed to hear real fast.

 

15 years later, it is fine, though it is still a little more crackly than the other. No pain, or instability. Of coures it would be on the same side as my tibial plateau fx. Now THAT was pain. Nothing quite like bone pain. I don't recommend it

[gearho]

Last year I popped off a first move involving a healhook. Landed on my left foot on a rock that hurt a bit at the time. In an hour I was hobbling around asking for anything stronger than aspirin. Went to the Doc and he x-rayed it and told me it was fine. 3 to 6 weeks it'll be fine, he said. Went 6 weeks limping and finally called up and got a second opinion.

 

 

I was sent to a PT. The PT felt around and found I had seperated a couple little bones in the middle of my foot. He manipulated them and I walked out with limping. That guy was a gene-yus!

 

The damage of limping for 6 weeks was no balance or muscle strength in the affected foot. I spent the next 4-6 weeks on little machines getting it back. Once it was back I was really back. Find a PT. DO the silly exercises.

[ken4ord]

Well it has been 7 and half weeks since my accident and I can still feel it. The last three weekend I have been able to get out, though been keeping it mellow 5.6 and under, and been climbing in my sneaks as opposed to rock shoes. After a day of climbing my foot is real gimpy in the morning, then losens up later in the day. Still got sometime before I am 100%.

[Szyjakowski]

Ken, I have sprained my ankles numerous times over the years (mostly bouldering pre-pad days) and really they have never been quite right...

you will get used to it. embrace it and smile.

[Stephen_Ramsey]

Of coures it would be on the same side as my tibial plateau fx. Now THAT was pain. Nothing quite like bone pain. I don't recommend it

 

That is the truth!

 

Edited August 18, 2004 by Stephen_Ramsey

[JosephH]

I've sprained/broken my right ankle several times in earlier years (weak to begin with) and as everyone says here, be diligent with the RICE. After the last time many years back a bunch of us coincidentally started walking tightrope (11mm rope cranked tight with pulleys) and I really haven't had nearly the problems I did before walking rope.

 

Once you're completely back it is actually a great ankle strengthening exercise (and pretty meditative after a while). A chain or heavy wire would be good as well (though chains can be a bit squirrelly depending on size/length). Typical 1" webbing slackline would probably be less so, as it is more stabilized by the legs with less fine tuning in the ankles then a smaller, tighter medium. Even a 1x4 board with a couple of 2x4 blocks on the ends might be good for the purpose.