R Foot, Ankle Sprain
2013-05-21 – 2013-06-20
Grade: 3
Bad ankle from small break from board-sports injury some 7 years ago.
Ankle was tender in training coming up to Autumn 12-hour rogaine, but lasted well for the event itself. Ran for a good amount of the event.
Was feeling "loose" in the week following the rogaine though.
Mt. Observation Foot-O following week felt great, was having awesome race, then second last control stumbled on some rocks and sprained it good. Limped over final control and back home.
Swelled up to about orange size and bit purple. Folk at HH were awesome and dug me up some ice and a comfy chair until my driver came in.
Did rehab and stayed off it until 2 weeks before the winter 24-hour. Been apples since.
Rehab exercises. Was as diligent with them as I've ever been and I'm glad for it.
The point was to improve balance and strength to *prevent* another injury.
Also TAPE TAPE TAPE! Mechanical stop so crappy tendons don't overstretch in case of stumble. Totally works.
In the 2x 24-hour events since it's been perfect.
Potentially could get a reconstruction if it ever give me too much trouble as there are chips of bone floating around in the joint, but really it's great so long as it's taped for anything challenging.
Rehab exercises I used:
Stretch! Draw alphabet with toe (start doing this ASAP after injury).
Strength:
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* Step-ups
* Towel curls (grab a towel with toes and drag it around)
* Raises (on a step)
* both Heel and Toe walking
* Iso (push against immovable object in all directions)
Balance:
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* 1-leg balance (10-60 secs)
* 1-leg squats
Then both on balance board. For extra difficulty with eyes closed.
* Pistol squats (1-leg full dip)
Agility
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* Single leg hop
* Single leg spot-hop (hop to particular spot)
* Single leg reactive hop (hop to random spot, faster better, but take care, be warmed and and don't re-injure)
Rehab exercises can be started very soon after the injury, so long as care is taken not to re-injure.
I still do these often enough as it's good to stay strong and for long term prevention.