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Ankle rippy rippy

Mung

12-May-2005
9:33:51 PM

Hey there, just want to hear from anybody who's busted up their ankle good and proper - I've got partial tears of all my lateral ligaments and the swelling is still there after 3 and a half weeks of icing and strapping and bracing. Didn't really think it would cause climbing problems until I started hopping over a few boulders last weekend.
How long does it take to get your ankle back to full climbing steam?

rightarmbad

12-May-2005
11:07:33 PM

I busted my ankle up playing basketball 10 years ago and it has only now just come good enough that I trust it on uneven ground. Still hurts and swells sometimes if I twist it to foot jam. I have been quoted many thousands of dollars more than I have, for a doctor to attempt repairing it. I wouldn't expect it to be good for at least 8 or 9 weeks. Tendons and ligaments take a long time to heal. Three months would be a more realistic time for it to heal properly, if too much damage hasn't been done.

Good luck.

cheesehead

13-May-2005
12:36:41 AM

Depending on what was done, I think ankle ligaments tend to stay loose. IE a once twisted ankle tends to twist again easily.
Sucks, but treat with caution everafter.

climbingjac

13-May-2005
9:46:15 AM

If you've completely snapped a ligament, it's a done deal. They don't reattach. Tears... well, I have one snap and one tear so the snap kind of muddies the waters a bit. But I'd imagine bare minimum 3 months. And you'll find slab climbing agonising for quite a while. My strategy was to climb only steep stuff when I first got back onto rock, because if I fell off I couldn't hit anything and do more damage. Furthermore the footwork on steep stuff doesn't have to be as precise. Less weight on your feet.

Clancy

13-May-2005
9:46:51 AM

dislocated my ankle about 6 years ago and it was 4 before i could play a game of soccer without strapping and it is still much weaker than the other ankle and noticibly less stable.

generally doesnt cause problems while climbing, except for the occasional issue with torquing my fooot into cracks. otherwise its the approaches that are the issue...

Julian

14-May-2005
2:02:43 PM

Hey Mathew, how are you?

There is a common misunderstanding that ligament laxity translates to instability.

You are very correct in that an ankle once strained, is much easier to strain again.

Ankle stability has much more to do with muscle proprioception than the laxity or tightness of ligaments. Although joints like the hip rely very much on the joint capsule and surrounding ligaments for stability, the ankle relies more on the surrounding musculature to keep it in the right position when walking, jumping etc. When the timing of motor control is impaired, as happens after a strain for reasons beyond my typing ability, it is significantly easier to roll your ankle again.

The peroneus muscles (there are 3) largely control how much your foot tilts when in motion. When landing on you feet, or even walking, etc, you spend a large amount of time on the outer margin of your foot. If the peroneus muscles don’t time their contraction very well, to tether that lateral roll, you will go over on your ankle (depending on applied force, centre of gravity bla bla bla). How badly, if at all, you strain it depends on the aforementioned bla bla’s plus a few more.

Assuming the ankle has healed, there are no gait problems, permanently ruptured ligaments, etc, the best treatment for a chronic ankle strain is proprioceptive exercises such as a wobble board. Or, brushing your teeth standing on one foot with your eyes closed!

Though a considerably more complex situation, the same can be said for shoulders after dislocation.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,

julian

almontyrat

15-May-2005
8:46:16 AM

I second Julian comments re retraining.

After rolling my ankle three times as a teenager, the second and third time so badly that I chipped the bottom of the fibular as it whacked the ground, my then physio got me to retrain and I've had NO problems since.

My exercises included standing on the dodgy leg and bouncing a tennis ball off the wall. Once I could do that easily without too much wobbling, I progressed to standing on the ball of my foot etc. Also walking up stairs putting only the ball of my foot on the step edge with foot fully flexed, then pulling up with the calf muscles as I stepped up (like in a calf raise). Don't discount the age old game of hop scotch either, very good for getting you to hop & jump while placing your foot exactly where you want it.

I supose that these exercises also improve the strength of the muscles as well as the proprioception which can't be a bad thing :-)

As for how long until it's fixed = the old string thing.... Listen to your body. Cheers Alison

Mung

24-May-2005
6:54:51 PM

Thanks a lot Jules, Al and everyone, there is still a heap of swelling but after a week of wobbling, hopping and jumping, I went climbing with success - not too bad except for at the extremes of bridging.
PS hopscotch is wicked fun

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