recovery and prevention for ankle injuries?

RoJoGo · January 2nd, 2008, 12:28 PM

Hey Gang,

I am an avid triathlete who hates to run...mainly because I do not have any confidence in my running due to multiple ankle injuries. I have purchased many different sneakers, and it all really comes down to focusing on my foot placement on every turn over.

Please help....I have just broken (technically my leg) my ankle again! This time I went to the hospital for x-rays because this one hurt a lot! Found out that the tip of my leg bone (forgive my lack of technical jargon) has been fractured or broken...yet again.

Doctor says 6 weeks before I can do anything, but I need a quicker way to recover because I am scheduled for IM AZ in April and now is the time I need to be training.

Any ideas on recovery? Any on prevention...other than ankle wraps (because those bite into my foot and a re very painful)

I appreciate any constructive feedback...thank you!

**wildstang** · January 2nd, 2008, 03:41 PM

i think id look into a bone density test if i was you to see if you need to supplement with more calcium or weither you have an ailment you didnt realize. you or anyone shouldnt be breaking there ankles just from running. is there more to the story of the break you havent posted?

**sleepyles** · January 2nd, 2008, 03:45 PM

If you have a broken foot/ ankle, I am assuming you have a cast on it to prevent further damaging to it. If not, then you have some sort of brace on it. The only suggestion that one can actually give is what your doctor has already told you. The best thing for a broken ankle is rest, and once the cast and brace does come off, start with light training, and do not over do it, since it may cause further damage than good. One thing you can do to help the process is eat a lot more calcium rich foods to assist with the healing process. If you don't like eating calcium rich foods, then try taking a calcium supplement like shark cartilage.

Also when going out and if you are currently training, proper shoes are key, orthotics, as they will help with less strain in the area of pain.

I don't think anything anyone tells you here, will help much but seeking medical advise would be the best thing if you haven't done so already.

RoJoGo · January 3rd, 2008, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildstang

i think id look into a bone density test if i was you to see if you need to supplement with more calcium or weither you have an ailment you didnt realize. you or anyone shouldnt be breaking there ankles just from running. is there more to the story of the break you havent posted?

The reason I think it (my ankle injury) is related to foot placement is largely due to the fact that my feet, if I do not focus, land on the outside and roll in toward my center, then off my toes. There is a little more to this story, my foot landed into a pocket of a rumble strip that follows along side the road I was running on, while I was trying to avoid an icy/wet spot in my path.

The time before that, my foot found a small pothole to fall into, which in turn, rolled my ankle once more.

I have considered bone density and asked my doctor, this last time, if she thought it possible....she did say that is was highly unlikely due to what she had seen in the x-rays....I really don't know what to look for, but I am confident in my doctor opinion.

I will go out and get some shark cartilage...I do have an air cast that I wear most of the day, I do take it off, with other support and keep it elevated for those other few hours. I do take a calcium supplement and may try doubling up on it. I am also a coffee addict, which I have read that caffine can negatively impact calcium absorbtion.

Thank you for all the advice...it sounds like I will need to start wrapping my ankles for every run and really focus hard on foot placement.

Thanks again!

**wildstang** · January 3rd, 2008, 09:52 AM

when i had broke my ankle years ago (someone fell on it) doc gave me this lace up sock style brace. it worked very good while restrengthening it.

**sleepyles** · January 3rd, 2008, 12:22 PM

Here is a link for some information/ articles about ankle rehab/ exercises. Once you are better, maybe you can see if any of this information in these articles can assist in your recovery.

Ankle Exercises for Ankle Injuries

Good luck, and best wishes in recovery.

RoJoGo · January 4th, 2008, 08:45 AM

Thanks everyone for your support...I am hopeful fior a smooth and speedy recovery. To make matters worse, I am scheduled to compete at this year's Ironman AZ in April. With weeks out from injury, it gives me about 8 weeks to get ready!

LOL! I love a challenge!

**sleepyles** · January 4th, 2008, 05:52 PM

Yikes. An Ironman competition, the last thing I did remotely close to that was a marathon, and needless to say, it didn't go very well. Ironman, I can completely give you respect, as the marathon alone when I did it a few years ago completely "killed" me. I used to play football, but endurance and knowing when to pace yourself is a whole new game to me, I normally always go full blast.

RoJoGo · January 7th, 2008, 11:16 AM

Yup, Yup.... IM AZ in April '08 will be my third. I've never "really" raced at the other two (IM FL and IM Louisville) so I was gearing up to hit this one very hard. (Hence my frustration) It looks like, I'll just be going through the motions on this one because I will not have enough time to ready myself.

**wildstang** · January 7th, 2008, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoJoGo

Yup, Yup.... IM AZ in April '08 will be my third. I've never "really" raced at the other two (IM FL and IM Louisville) so I was gearing up to hit this one very hard. (Hence my frustration) It looks like, I'll just be going through the motions on this one because I will not have enough time to ready myself.

good luck and stick with it.

RoJoGo · April 3rd, 2008, 12:19 PM

Well I think I have recovered enough from my broken ankle and I began a training program to get ready for IM AZ in April.

Since I began my running again, my road race times have been faster and better than last year. I attribute my new success with getting the correct shoe. For years, people have told me one thing and finally I decided to review my footstrike for myself.

I had my wife take pix and run a camcorder and I discovered for myself that the experts were wrong. For years I was thinking if I bought more expensive kicks I'd run better...well that is not the case.

I even went as far as to buy those ridiculously expensive Newton sneakers... and I killed them! They suck, at least for me. I ended up buying a $40 pair of Sauconys and theya re the best thing to happen to my running since I learned to walk for the first time.

WHOA! Now I can run and I can run well. I still have room for improvement... but now I have much more confidence in my ankles and think I am ready to tackle IM AZ!

All it took was the right shoe!

Please let that be a leason learned for others.... get the right shoe for you and don't believe what the experts say, because they can be wrong too!

Thanks for reading.