Torn Ankle Ligaments

Remove this Banner Ad

Souup

Souup

Norm Smith Medallist
Veteran
May 8, 2005
7,807
27,697
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Playing basketball on Saturday went up for a rebound.. landed with all my bodyweight on my right ankle and ended up tearing ligaments in my ankle. Turns out i have grade 2 ligament tears. Doctor told me i should be walking at 100% in 2 weeks but no sport for atleast 4 weeks. He's given me ankle excercises to do after a few weeks such as rolling my foot on a tennis ball and 1 foot balances on a pillow.

One thing i forgot to ask him though was how early i should start putting weight on it/walk on it. I've googled this but i've gotten mixed opinions. Some people say you should start walking on it after a few days to strengthen the ankle again and get it used to walking early on but others say stay off it for atleast a week or you may do damage long-term and it wont heal back 100%

Opinions would be greatly appreciated as i really have no idea what to do at the moment. I've tried walking on it and i've got a bit of a limp from the pain, but the pain isnt all that bad.

BTW - I'm in year 12 and got a med certificate till Wednesday. Which means im at school on Thursday, so i really want to know if i can be walking around at school or if i should get some crutches
 
I tore my talofibular ligament (I think that's the name) playing basketball back in 2005. That's the most common ligament people do when they sprain their ankle. I jumped up for a rebound, and landed on an opposition player's foot. I thought it was just a simple ankle sprain (that hadn't torn anything, I mean), and played (or, more correctly, hobbled through) another full game a few hours later, and one more full game the next day (it was a weekend carnival).

Fast forward two weeks later (I skipped one game and a couple of practices, but otherwise kept playing), and it was still swollen, so I went to the doctor. He recommended me for x-rays, and that's when I found out I'd actually done something. The doctor said that they could still do minor surgury to sew/knit the ligament back together to help it heal (even though it would have been ideal if I'd seen a doctor right away after the injury), but when he found out I didn't have private health cover, he just perscribed me some painkillers and pretty much told me that he couldn't help me beyond that (despite being willing to 5 minutes earlier :rolleyes:) and to go away.

I still have a bit of stiffness and the occasional bit of pain in my ankle, and it's still very slightly swollen (in comparison to my other ankle, anyway) 4 years later. I kept playing that year though (practice and games 6 days a week for school and club, as well as every lunch time at school), constantly jumping off that leg for layups and dunks(as I'm right handed), and won the MVP award for my high school. I was managing tendonitis in my left knee at that time as well, so I probably should have taken a big break, but I just loved playing so much that I didn't want to miss any time.

You could keep doing stuff on it (depending on the pain and mobility issues of course), but to get it back to 100% for the future, you should probably just rest it and recover.
 
Sounds like you had a slight evulsion Damon.

Did the same thing last year.

Needs a scrape and clean up, but I let my insurance lapse as I'm not playing sport.

Took them 4 weeks to find it in my case though. :eek: I was adamant I'd heard a crack, and I was correct. :eek:

Best thing for it is to get a golf ball under your foot. Just keep bashing anything tight out under there, and stretching the ankle and calf as much as you can.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

Chops_a_must said:
Sounds like you had a slight evulsion Damon.

Did the same thing last year.

Needs a scrape and clean up, but I let my insurance lapse as I'm not playing sport.

Took them 4 weeks to find it in my case though. :eek: I was adamant I'd heard a crack, and I was correct. :eek:

Best thing for it is to get a golf ball under your foot. Just keep bashing anything tight out under there, and stretching the ankle and calf as much as you can.
Click to expand...

Yea I was thinking of getting it looked at sometime later on, just to see if there's anything that can be improved there. I'm wanting to start playing footy next year, and I want to be 150% right for that. I only play social basketball now, so it's a bit less of an issue with getting time off from that if I want it (as it's a bit less commited and serious).
It's not bad or much of a problem at all, but I can still feel that I've done something there once, if you know what I mean.

Can you elaborate on this golf ball business, specifically this "bashing anything tight out under there" part?
 
Damon_3388 said:
Yea I was thinking of getting it looked at sometime later on, just to see if there's anything that can be improved there. I'm wanting to start playing footy next year, and I want to be 150% right for that. I only play social basketball now, so it's a bit less of an issue with getting time off from that if I want it (as it's a bit less commited and serious).
It's not bad or much of a problem at all, but I can still feel that I've done something there once, if you know what I mean.

Can you elaborate on this golf ball business, specifically this "bashing anything tight out under there" part?
Click to expand...

When you are sitting down in front of the TV or whatever, just get a golf ball under your foot. Roll it along the bottom of your foot. Put static pressure on any sort points you find along the way that need more work. Careful not to bruise it like I have done a couple of times from being too vigorous. :eek:

If you are still getting swelling and things, what they will do is clean out any scar tissue from the ligament and attachment to bone, and just trim a little of the synovial membrane to stop it from continuously swelling.

It's almost always a successful operation if an injection hasn't provided long term relief. Really simple thing to have done, but unfortunately for those of us, until you have it done, you will always know you've "done something" to it there previously. And you get the random swellings, and random aches and minor pains here and there. :eek:

Not even worth having specific treatment on it, not even debilitating. Just friggin annoying. Seems so silly to have it scraped... but you know...
 
Chops_a_must said:
When you are sitting down in front of the TV or whatever, just get a golf ball under your foot. Roll it along the bottom of your foot. Put static pressure on any sort points you find along the way that need more work. Careful not to bruise it like I have done a couple of times from being too vigorous. :eek:

If you are still getting swelling and things, what they will do is clean out any scar tissue from the ligament and attachment to bone, and just trim a little of the synovial membrane to stop it from continuously swelling.

It's almost always a successful operation if an injection hasn't provided long term relief. Really simple thing to have done, but unfortunately for those of us, until you have it done, you will always know you've "done something" to it there previously. And you get the random swellings, and random aches and minor pains here and there. :eek:

Not even worth having specific treatment on it, not even debilitating. Just friggin annoying. Seems so silly to have it scraped... but you know...
Click to expand...

Yea I get what you mean about the golf ball now. It just seemed more like it'd help if you had sore spots in the bottom of your foot more than anything, but I get it now.

Anyway, I agree that it does seem silly having work done on it, but if it gets it feeling a bit stronger and more "normal", then it's probably worth it at some stage.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top