Friday, February 25, 2011

Ankle Update

Sorry I havent posted much this week. But really I all do is go to work, come home and ice and elevate my ankle.  Miley is beside herself that nothing is happening. She just can't believe we dont walk at all. LOL  Today I went to see an Ortho doctor just to get some more information on my ankle and what I should be doing to fix it.  They took more x-rays.  I have soft tissue swelling and small joint effusion.  He told me most people go there whole life and dont sprain their ankle as bad as Ive sprained mine. Then he said if I were in the NFL they would just tape me up and send me back out there. LOL  He told me I was lucky. I have a bad grade 2 sprain.If it were just a little worse and I couldnt do any agility.  But he said I could walk on it without crutches and that I wasnt hurting it.  I asked if the splint was holding the swelling in the ankle and lower leg. He laughed and said no. The splint was a good splint but not useful to run agility in.  He gave me another splint to run agility in.  That splint cost 430.00. Holy cow , I hope my insurance pays for it.  Then he had someone show me how to tape my ankle under the splint to run agility in.  I have strenght exercises to do with an exercise band. Also Im to do contrast baths: Soak your foot in a bucket cold water for 2 minutes and then soak in a bucket of hot water for 2 minutes alternating back and forth  for a total of 30 minutes twice a day. Normally he wouldnt recommend running on my ankle but understood about the agility camps and the money I spent. So I should be ok with the tape and new splint. But he said if I twist it at all, I have to stop and Im done. No more agility until its healed. It will take 2 months to completely heal.





13 comments:

Sara said...

The taping will help you a lot. I competed in gymnastics for year, with a bad ankle. The only way I could do it is if my ankle were taped very tightly.

Funny how we'll put up with some pain to do the sports we love. Glad your doctor understood!

Amy Wood said...

Glad to hear you were able to get a splint to run agility in. Hope everything goes well at the camp. Looking forward to hearing about it in future posts :)

Kathy Mocharnuk said...

wow, well, glad you got some good instructions and a good splint so you can do agility ;-), glad you are taking it easy and elevating that poor ankle a lot, it sure is colorful!!!

onecollie said...

ouch!!!

Chris and Ricky said...

Gosh, my husband's brace cost around $50 but yours must be even better (hopefully better for $430!). Glad you can go to the agility camp though.

Poor Miley. Wish I could walk her for you!

Cowspotdog said...

That really was a nasty sprain, but now the bruising has come out it should start to ease a little pain wise. I do hope that splint helps, but remember it is going to be maybe two months before you can really start using that foot properly again so make sure you still rest it.

Jules said...

ouch! I am glad you met with the ortho doctor.

AC said...

Ugh, you did quite the number on your ankle! Glad you had a good visit with your doc, though. I'm curious if your new brace is completely ridged? I can't tell from the photo. If it is, you can ignore this =)

I have an ankle that I've sprained badly several times. The most recently was a year ago and I had to wear a ridged brace for a few months whenever I went trail running. The ridged brace (you can look at Active Ankle Ridged braces to get an idea) made it impossible for me to roll my ankle but it has a hinge at the joint the allows your ankle to move up and down.

I bring it up because it's still possible to roll an ankle when it's taped and in a soft/lace-up brace, especially if your joint is really "loose" (been there). The ridged brace will make it harder to make quick turns on the agility field (since it eliminates lateral motion in our joint) but it'll prevent another sprain. If you still have the ability to catch yourself should your ankle start to roll (my ankle was so shot that what should have been a minor roll would turn my ankle completely sideways), the soft set-up might be more comfy and let you move better...trade offs.

Alight, sports medicine geek leaves =)

Diana said...

The good news is there is no instability in the joint. If there was, I would be on mandatory crutches and no running. The brace has hard plastic sides but there is a hinge to allow you to walk.

LauraK said...

Goodness- what is that brace made out of, gold? I never knew they were that expensive! Hopefully it helps you though- sounds like you've got some fun seminars/camps that you're going to :) Poor Miley is going crazy I'm sure- keep that girl as busy as you can and heal quickly!

Unknown said...

Oh dear, it does look so painful and I feel the ouch too! I'm glad you've met a very considerate human doc and he knows exactly what you want to do with your leg and gave you the agility friendly splint. Make sure you make it very tight when you run for agility!
Hope you have a speedy recovery!!! Poor Miley, she might be very grumpy now.

Dawn said...

Aw, that looks awful, though I know it has healed some. Take good care of yourself...remember to rest...soak, elevate, ice...rest...soak... gee that has to get boring. No wonder Miley is getting testy!

Be careful at the camp..though I know you want to go...just be careful!

Arran, Arthur and Mum said...

Ouch, that is bruising up nicely! Sounds like you had a nice understanding doctor at least. One trouble with free health service over here is we have to like it or lump it. lol!