Ankle Injury: Two Years Later

Two years ago, I tore a ligament in my ankle at the trampoline park. (Facebook time hop reminded me).

I was trying an arial and landed wrong. I knew something was wrong immediately. I tried to do my best not to cry. I drove myself home (I kept my sister on the phone to distract myself from the pain) and had my sister take me to an urgent care the next day. And recovery took a long time. It was the end of January (almost four months) before I was back on the trampoline (in a brace). It took forever to rehab my ligament because it was a tear, not a sprain. It looked like just a bad sprain on the original X-ray, but when my twice weekly physical therapy wasn't progressing as it should (I was in so much pain doing their exercises), I got an MRI that revealed a tear, two sprains and bone bruises. So there was even more physical therapy (I really loved physical therapy), and slowly but surely, I strengthened my ankle and didn't have to have surgery. I spent a few months being cautious so I didn't re-injur it.

I think it's amazing that the body can heal itself from this. And I don't notice it all these days. I run gnarly trails. I tumble. Ankles are great.

 I look back on think of what a different place I'm in now. I mix up my workouts more now, and only miss the trampoline a little. I still go every once in a while. Here's what I learned

10 lessons learned from spraining my ankle

1. Time heals all wounds.
It seemed like it took forever to heal my ankle, but it did. And looking back it doesn't seem like that much time. So glad to have healed.

2. Everyone wants to give you advice about how to care for your ankle.
Just smile and nod and do what the doctor tells you to.I heard about how a friend healed his ankle my sitting on it, and now it crunches, how another friend had even more swelling than me and slept upside down and heeled his ankle, how I should just go ahead and workout like normal, how after 48 hours I shouldn't ice it anymore that I should use heat, how my injury couldn't have been that bad, and so much more. It really got annoying. I try not to do this when friends get hurt. But sometimes I can't help myself. So I'll usually pop back in and tell my injured friends that I hope they heal quickly, and to do what works for their body. Everyone is different.

3. Physical therapy is the best.
If I was 5-10 years younger, I'd really consider going to physical therapy school. It's a career that makes a difference and is always going to be in demand—due to sports injury, and especially older patients needing help with mobility issues. There were a lot of white-hairs in there working out shoulders or legs. I could see myself loving a job like this, being active. But alas, it's four extra years of schools (plus science pre-requisites.) So I'll just have to cheer for physical therapists and the amazing work they do healing our bodies. They know the right exercises and stretches to get you back to where you were. And I'd trust some of them more than an M.D. (Example: My physical therapist gave me a compression sock that I desperately needed. The doctor did give this to me or tell me to get it. This made all the difference in my recovery.)

4. Voltarin Gel is awesome.
This is a pain gel that's often prescribed to arthritis patients. I got a prescription for my ankle, since my doctor was worried about my stomach taking all of those pain pills for four months. The gel is amazing. It numbs the pain away, and works fast. I've kept the extra around for aches and pains I know I'll have (wrists after gymnastics, IT band when training too hard etc.)

5. Flat shoes are the way to go.
I loved wearing sneakers to work all those months—on doctor's orders. I really appreciated how comfortable they are—when compared to heels. The one lasting difference of my ankle injury is that I live in flats now. Five-inch platforms used to be my go-to work shoes. Now, I wear the most comfortable flats I can find
• Puma makes ballet flats. I like to think they're as comfortable as Puma shoes.
• Clarks makes very comfy flats
• Some Cole Haan shoes are made with Nike Air footbeds.
Other brands: Hushpuppies, Aerosoles and probably more.
I will rock my flat shoes.

6. If you're going to sprain an ankle, sprain the left one....because not being able to drive is the worst.
I couldn't drive for at least a month after my injury. The doctor didn't want me to drive when I couldn't SLAM down the brake pedal, since I hurt my right ankle. I worked at home or got rides to work. (It is not fun to ask for rides). The worst was grocery shopping. I'm used to just picking up something on the way home from work. But I had to go with my husband—and walking around the grocery store on crutches is not fun—on his time. And he didn't like the daily requests for milk or eggs. He just wanted to go once. I can't plan what we're running out of. I can guess, but sometimes you just don't know.

7. Don't even try to get your own food while you're on crutches.
Just have someone else pickup your restaurant soda or your buffet plate. There will be a nice soul who will ask. Just let them. You can't balance your crutches, purse and a tray. It won't end well.

8. One-legged workouts are totally doable.
Take a pain pill and work out. I did a lot of one-legged TRX. I got my arms and abs really strong during this period. And I learned a lot about body awareness while adjusting the workouts while compensating for not being able to use an ankle. (Also, lots of wall squats). But it's good to change workouts up.

9. How to sit still.
I am so bad at sitting still. I'm twitchy and constantly moving. But when I sprained my ankle, I had to sit still. It would hurt to get up and I needed to keep my foot elevated. Also, the pets really liked it when I sat still. They'd all come gather around me. I got better at sitting still, because I had to. I'm still twitchy and like to get up every few minutes but if I need to sit still for an hour—it's more doable now than it used to be.

10. Ankles are important.
I learned just how much I use my ankle. I couldn't sit on my foot, walk up stairs, run, jump, drive and do so many things. I rode a lot of stationary bikes and did a lot of rowing machine workouts and wall squats. I also did a lot of toe raises to strengthen my ankle. But I won't take my ankles for granted now. And I do make sure to stretch my ankles a lot more now.