selkirk Posted August 31, 2009 Posted August 31, 2009 and it's not immersed in rice crispies. I was working a route today and did something to my ankle. First took a fall (10 ft maybe?) and clipped my left heel on a ledge. It was sore for a couple of minutes but seemed to fade pretty quickly. Following that I was finishing the route, popped in a left foot jam and cranked it over to set it (like i've done 100's of time), and heard the magic phrase... snap, crackle, pop! Pretty sure it's not a good thing. Finished the route, lowered off, and my left outside ankle was starting to swell a bit. Taped and managed to climb on it for the rest of the day, but it's swollen. Current symptoms: laterally unstable, really doesn't like being pushed back on the toes or pushed to the side. However it supports weight just fine, and toeing in to climbing holds and edging is just fine (TR/followed for the rest of the day with minimal problems). Twisting makes it grumpy though. Does anyone have any idea what the hell I might have done?!?!?!?! It was loud, it sounded like something broke, but the fact that I can support full weight with a pack and climb on it seems like no broken grinding bones. So i'm thinking tendons or ligaments? I've never had them make that sort of noise before Currently icing and elevating and will be resting and hitting with NSAIDS this week. Any ideas would be great! TIA Quote
billcoe Posted August 31, 2009 Posted August 31, 2009 Following that I was finishing the route, popped in a left foot jam and cranked it over to set it (like i've done 100's of time), and heard the magic phrase... snap, crackle, pop! Pretty sure it's not a good thing. Finished the route, lowered off, and my left outside ankle was starting to swell a bit. Taped and managed to climb on it for the rest of the day.... Dude dude dude, this is where you were suppose to stop, elevate and ice....Dude! Quote
JBo6 Posted August 31, 2009 Posted August 31, 2009 Dude dude dude, this is where you were suppose to stop, elevate and ice....Dude! Bill I seem to remember a picture with some blood on a pant leg or something along those lines. Snap crackle pop must be different then holes in your knee right? Quote
Joe_Poulton Posted August 31, 2009 Posted August 31, 2009 Yeah, elevate and ice....mostly likely just torn ligaments....but then again...you hit your heel...if you have insurance go for an xray to be sure. Quote
Mtguide Posted August 31, 2009 Posted August 31, 2009 First order of business is to STAY THE HELL OFF IT!!! You may very well have aggravated and further injured it by continuing to climb on it after you first clipped it. As billcoe said, that's where you should have stopped, not finishing the route, absolutely not taping it and climbing on it for the rest of the day. Any time there's an impact injury from a fall, (and 10 feet is plenty far enough to fracture even young, strong, large bones--hell, for that matter, 10 feet can kill you if you hit right, I don't care how tough and strong you are) you need to get it looked at. Especially when it's loud enough to hear it snap, crack or pop. Not good, not good at all. If there's swelling,obviously there's damage. Learn to listen to your body. The only excuse for continuing to climb with something like this would have been if you were on a remote face or back country alpine climb with no other way off but to continue on. When you're just cragging,for Xcrist sake, use some common sense and take care of things before you make them worse. Other wise you could have a rather short climbing career, and could wind up with arthritic effects that will show up in later years. The body is tough, but you do have to take care of it properly. Depending on your age,and the nature and extent of injury, it could take anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks, perhaps longer, before it's well healed and stable enough to return to full use. There's not a lot of blood flow to ligaments and tendons, so it takes time. Just because there's not a lot of pain doesn't necessarily mean there's no problem, or that the damage is minimal; some white tissue injuries don't involve much in the way of nerve endings. And after the initial recovery, you should train it to strengthen it, using high reps(to maximize blood flow) and light weight or resistance (to avoid overstraining it AGAIN) and gradually increasing resistance as it gets better. A good physical therapist can give you the correct exercises for your specific injury. In Portland, the Adventist Hospital near Mall 205 has an excellent Sports Medicine free clinic (at least it used to be) one or two nights a week where you can get it evaluated and treated, as well as consulting with a physical therapist and/or physiatrist. Just call for the days and times. Quote
selkirk Posted August 31, 2009 Author Posted August 31, 2009 The ankle actually didn't make any noise during the fall. I really think that was just a bruise at best. No pain whatsoever on the heel now and after 5 minutes of hanging and resting felt fine. I only mentioned if there is some way that the fall could have set the stage for the foot jam? The snap crackle pop happened during a routine foot jam (after the fall) when I pushing towards the anchors (had 1 mantle left to get to the chains) If anybody knows any good Sports Med Doc's in Seattle I'd appreciate the recommendation. So far still swollen and a bit stiff but nothing absurd. The pain certainly isn't as bad as the last time I rolled an ankle playing volleyball. The noise is just freaking me out! Quote
billcoe Posted August 31, 2009 Posted August 31, 2009 (edited) Dude dude dude, this is where you were suppose to stop, elevate and ice....Dude! Bill I seem to remember a picture with some blood on a pant leg or something along those lines. Snap crackle pop must be different then holes in your knee right? Oh yeah....I had forgotten about that - so ... abuh abuh abuh.....DOHHHH....but that was ....ahhh ..... nevermind....I can see I'm in do as I say not as I do mode. I think I do that to my kids too and it never works good there either. The route got a snazzy name. Kyle, seen here to my right after we had gotten down to the ground and Lost Cam Kenny (left) was getting ready to do the 2nd ascent, named it "Wounded Knee". OK: I remember now cause it screwed up my Yosemite trip. If I'd just gone and elevated, iced and stitched it up immediately instead of hanging around and climbing on it, it most likely would have been healed by the time I went to Yos and I could have been climbing and wouldn't have been "Camp Bitch". My main point is that we all are wishing you a speedy recovery Selkirk. Unfortunately I don't know any docs in Seattle. But I bet there will be plenty of advice on it subject soon. Good luck!!! (BTW, what Mt Guide says above still goes for me too:-) ) Edited August 31, 2009 by billcoe Quote
Dane Posted September 2, 2009 Posted September 2, 2009 I have been using Orthopedics International in Seattle. They work with the Seahawks and the Mariners. I been pretty happy with them through three major surgeries and the rehab. http://www.orthopedics-intl.net/ Ste 400 1600 E Jefferson St, Seattle, WA 98122-5647 (206) 323-1900 Quote
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