Ankle sprains

[DT4K]

It's been 8 weeks since I sprained my ankle and I still have some tightness and pain a couple times a day when I twist wrong. I didn't get PT originally because I figured it would heal fine on it's own. When I sprained it once before, it was pretty much back to normal after about 4 weeks. But then again, I am 10 years older now.

Should I just give it more time to completely heal, should I call my doc and get a referral for physical therapy, or should I just look up some exercises on the net and start doing them on my own. I want to start playing volleyball again, but I'm worried about reinjuring it since the tendons still feel tight.

Yes, I know asking for medical advice on an internet forum is a gamble.

 

[Azraele]

Call your doctor and see what he/she recommends.

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: DT4K
It's been 8 weeks since I sprained my ankle and I still have some tightness and pain a couple times a day when I twist wrong. I didn't get PT originally because I figured it would heal fine on it's own.

Do people really go to physical therapy over a sprained ankle? Hell, the first time I sprained my ankle I was told to stay off of it for 2 weeks. The following day I played soccer.

 

[Bulk Beef]

I wouldn't bother with a doctor, but I'm an idiot, so you do the math.

 

[iamme]

there have been a few threads on ankle sprains here on atot.

as a basketball and volleyball player, i've had more ankle sprains that i wish i had. i think i remember reading here that physical therapy helped a great deal. if you have health insurance that will cover it, i'd go for it. reading exercises online is one thing, having an expert show you the correct exercises and stretches is another.

 

[iamme]

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: DT4K
It's been 8 weeks since I sprained my ankle and I still have some tightness and pain a couple times a day when I twist wrong. I didn't get PT originally because I figured it would heal fine on it's own.

Do people really go to physical therapy over a sprained ankle? Hell, the first time I sprained my ankle I was told to stay off of it for 2 weeks. The following day I played soccer.

if you sprain your ankles many times, the ligaments/tendons become "stretched out" and "loose". i've read that this leaves you more susceptible to sprains in the future.

 

[Doggiedog]

How old are you now?

One of the guys I play VB with sprained his ankle badly and he took 6 months to heal but it's still 85% he says. He's about 40 or so. The older you are the longer it takes.

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: iamme

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: DT4K
It's been 8 weeks since I sprained my ankle and I still have some tightness and pain a couple times a day when I twist wrong. I didn't get PT originally because I figured it would heal fine on it's own.

Do people really go to physical therapy over a sprained ankle? Hell, the first time I sprained my ankle I was told to stay off of it for 2 weeks. The following day I played soccer.

if you sprain your ankles many times, the ligaments/tendons become "stretched out" and "loose". i've read that this leaves you more susceptible to sprains in the future.

I have been told this by doctors. Actually I was told the next time I have a sprain the doctors want to break my ankle to have it heal properly.

Your friend in Christ,

minendo

 

[Jack Ryan]

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: DT4K
It's been 8 weeks since I sprained my ankle and I still have some tightness and pain a couple times a day when I twist wrong. I didn't get PT originally because I figured it would heal fine on it's own.

Do people really go to physical therapy over a sprained ankle? Hell, the first time I sprained my ankle I was told to stay off of it for 2 weeks. The following day I played soccer.

You are obviously superman or you talk out of you ass.

Every ankle sprain is different. Physical therapy wouldn't hurt it, but you could probably do it on your own.

 

[Smolek]

Have you "babied" it over those weeks? If you have then it may not be back to normal and the muscles and tendons healed in those positions.

If you think thats the case, then slowly start doing more and more movements to loosen the muscle and tendon tightness.

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: KMDupont64

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: DT4K
It's been 8 weeks since I sprained my ankle and I still have some tightness and pain a couple times a day when I twist wrong. I didn't get PT originally because I figured it would heal fine on it's own.

Do people really go to physical therapy over a sprained ankle? Hell, the first time I sprained my ankle I was told to stay off of it for 2 weeks. The following day I played soccer.

You are obviously superman or you talk out of you ass.

Every ankle sprain is different. Physical therapy wouldn't hurt it, but you could probably do it on your own.

Superman I am not, and the only thing that comes out of my ass is sh!t.

Your friend in Christ,

minendo

 

[iamme]

for the, the worst part of my ankle injuries has been psychological. last summer i sprained both ankles while preparing for a basketball tournament. freakishly unlucky and extremely painful. since then, i've been much more timid playing basketball and the fear of spraining my ankles lingers in the back of my mind

not as much when i play volleyball, since i usually just have to worry about the person blocking with me.

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: minendo
Do people really go to physical therapy over a sprained ankle? Hell, the first time I sprained my ankle I was told to stay off of it for 2 weeks. The following day I played soccer.

You may have had a first degree sprain where it's basically just over stretched. Mine is second degree, which means the tendons are partially torn. A week after the sprain, my ankle was still twice the normal size and the whole area around the ankle and all the way down to my toes was black and blue. I couldn't put any weight on it at all for the first 3-4 days and had to use crutches for about a week.

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
How old are you now?
One of the guys I play VB with sprained his ankle badly and he took 6 months to heal but it's still 85% he says. He's about 40 or so. The older you are the longer it takes.

I turn 33 tomorrow. The first time I sprained it was about 10 years ago. Same exact circumstance both times. I was playing volleyball, jumped to block, the other guy came under the net, and I landed on his foot. Last time, I was back to playing vball with a brace about 4 weeks later.

Originally posted by: Smolek
Have you "babied" it over those weeks? If you have then it may not be back to normal and the muscles and tendons healed in those positions.

If you think thats the case, then slowly start doing more and more movements to loosen the muscle and tendon tightness.

No, I really haven't. I haven't played any sports, but I've done a lot of walking. I took my kids on vacation 3 weeks after the injury and did a lot of walking at Disneyland, Sea World, etc. It was sore, but I did ok on it.

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: DT4K

Originally posted by: minendo
Do people really go to physical therapy over a sprained ankle? Hell, the first time I sprained my ankle I was told to stay off of it for 2 weeks. The following day I played soccer.

You may have had a first degree sprain where it's basically just over stretched. Mine is second degree, which means the tendons are partially torn. A week after the sprain, my ankle was still twice the normal size and the whole area around the ankle and all the way down to my toes was black and blue. I couldn't put any weight on it at all for the first 3-4 days and had to use crutches for about a week.

It was no first degree sprain. Believe me on that fact. However, I couldn't let my team down and needed to play. Between Saturday's game and Sunday's game I had to go buy a new pair of kicks since the pair from Saturday had to be cut off due to the sprain.

Your friend in Christ,

minendo

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: DT4K
It's been 8 weeks since I sprained my ankle and I still have some tightness and pain a couple times a day when I twist wrong. I didn't get PT originally because I figured it would heal fine on it's own.

Do people really go to physical therapy over a sprained ankle? Hell, the first time I sprained my ankle I was told to stay off of it for 2 weeks. The following day I played soccer.

A sprained ankle can be worse than a broken ankle. I once had a 3rd degree sprain so bad the doctor put a cast on it for 6 weeks and I couldn't walk due to severe swelling for 3 months. Also had surgery and 6 months of PT. Sucked big time.

Shanti, if you go in for PT, beware the evil "wobble board"...

 

[OutHouse]

a Doc isnt going to do anything for you.

physical therapy is your ticket, or even if you can find a massage therapist who specializes in sports injuries. All my classes have centered around sport injuries and ankle sprains was a subject that we spent a lot of time on.

 

[Vincent]

I've had several severe ankle sprains. I would highly recommend physical therapy. The scar tissue that joins torn ligaments together is never as good as the original ligament was, so you will be more susceptible to future sprains. To help with this, you need to strengthen the muscles and train the nerves that help stabilize your ankle, and physical therapy can help you do this.

My first severe sprain was in 1991, and I had cast for a week and PT for maybe a month after that. I was going to a private school at the time, so we had a good student health plan. My later severe sprains happened while I was at a state school and I never got PT for them. I think this is why the sprains have been more frequent.

 

[OutHouse]

Originally posted by: Vincent
I've had several severe ankle sprains. I would highly recommend physical therapy. The scar tissue that joins torn ligaments together is never as good as the original ligament was, so you will be more susceptible to future sprains. To help with this, you need to strengthen the muscles and train the nerves that help stabilize your ankle, and physical therapy can help you do this.

My first severe sprain was in 1991, and I had cast for a week and PT for maybe a month after that. I was going to a private school at the time, so we had a good student health plan. My later severe sprains happened while I was at a state school and I never got PT for them. I think this is why the sprains have been more frequent.

they are more frequent because you have stretched your MCL, LCL, PCL, ACL. Ligaments are not contractile muscle tissue, once you have stretched a ligament by a sprain you will be more prone to doing it again. doesnt matter if its your ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, wrist...

 

[Doggiedog]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
How old are you now?
One of the guys I play VB with sprained his ankle badly and he took 6 months to heal but it's still 85% he says. He's about 40 or so. The older you are the longer it takes.

I turn 33 tomorrow. The first time I sprained it was about 10 years ago. Same exact circumstance both times. I was playing volleyball, jumped to block, the other guy came under the net, and I landed on his foot. Last time, I was back to playing vball with a brace about 4 weeks later.

Happy pre-birthday!

The guy who sprained his ankle in VB did something similar to me. I spiked line and he tried to block cross court and came down on my side of the net spraining his ankle badly (he was pissed off at me for some reason). He said he sprained it many times before so his age along with the previous injury probably caused it to take longer to heal.

I had a similar sprain myself in college (14 years ago) when a 5'2" girl tried to block me. She came down on my side of the net and I could not walk for 2 weeks. It took me 2 months to heal fully. I really wanted to smack her since she couldn't even reach over the net let alone block me in my prime.

 

[Homerboy]

I sprained my ankle a few months back pretty badly and posted here about it. Of course the urgent care people did little to nothing for it (ace bandage, "ice it" and "if it hurts take some ibuprofin". Ok fine. MOnths later it still bothers me 24hrs a day (I can feel it beign "tight" sitting here).

My wife yells at me to go see the doctor on it and to get into Phys. Ther. but I dont have the time for that... I damn well should have though. Sprains are bad, and certainly worse than a break in many cases, but it can be helped by physical therapy no questions

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: minendo

Originally posted by: DT4K

Originally posted by: minendo
Do people really go to physical therapy over a sprained ankle? Hell, the first time I sprained my ankle I was told to stay off of it for 2 weeks. The following day I played soccer.

You may have had a first degree sprain where it's basically just over stretched. Mine is second degree, which means the tendons are partially torn. A week after the sprain, my ankle was still twice the normal size and the whole area around the ankle and all the way down to my toes was black and blue. I couldn't put any weight on it at all for the first 3-4 days and had to use crutches for about a week.

It was no first degree sprain. Believe me on that fact. However, I couldn't let my team down and needed to play. Between Saturday's game and Sunday's game I had to go buy a new pair of kicks since the pair from Saturday had to be cut off due to the sprain.

Your friend in Christ,

minendo

I'm really glad that your sprain was mild enough that you could actually run on it the next day. Good for you.
I'm not sure what your point is though.
As I said, I couldn't walk on it at all. Not because I'm a wuss and can't handle pain, but because the swelling made the joint pretty much completely immobile.

Yeah, I think I'll get a referral for some PT. I think that will probably help get it back in good shape. I really don't want to go sprain it again next time I play.

 

[iamme]

Originally posted by: Vic

Shanti, if you go in for PT, beware the evil "wobble board"...

evil as in difficult? or not recommended?

 

[bigalt]

different sprains have different severities of course.

Every time you twist wrong you might be hurting it a bit, slowing the healing. It may be worth it to wear an ankle brace during the day if you have to walk around at work.

Two nice low-impact exercises for your ankle are running underwater and going on the exercycle. if either hurt don't continue though.

By babying it you could only potentially make it weaker-- you won't prolong the pain. And you can always just be careful with it while it's getting back to speed-- tape it up before you play sports.

 

[tranquilflow]

call yr doc

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: iamme

Originally posted by: Vic
Shanti, if you go in for PT, beware the evil "wobble board"...

evil as in difficult? or not recommended?

evil as in painful