rolled left ankle - JP Fitness Forums

fitzy21 · 02-05-2007, 09:23 PM

i'm playing a basketball pick up game - 2 on 2 earlier this afternoon. i started off fine and there was a little pushing going on for rebounds, normal play. i get a rebound and my left ankles rolls to under me - so the outside of my left foot is on the edge of the floor with my body on top of it and i fall down. i know i did something to it, but i continued to play after limping it off. was able to run a little bit and i was playing well enough to still score more points than the other team.

well, about 5 minutes later after coming off a screen and trying to roll to the left, i plant my right foot to make a sharp left, my left foot hits the ground and rolls hard just like the first time, but much worse.

something happened, something pulled or stretched that shouldn't have.

i didn't ice it - i know, i know i should have

and i'm just trying to walk it off, but i know tomorrow its gonna be swollen.

just looking for any advice on what i should do and for future reference some ankle exercises to help prevent my ankle rolling.

i have no history of ankle problem - last time i had a injured ankle was from a slide tackle back in junior year of high school, 6 years ago...

Lisa~ · 02-06-2007, 06:24 AM

Until you get some more personal help from the physical therapists, here's a thread with a good discussion of ankle sprains that might interest you.

I have really, really weak ankles.... What should I do?

UConnJulie · 02-06-2007, 06:33 AM

fitzy21, sounds like a classic ankle sprain ... for now you need to ice it ... 15 to 20 minutes at a clip, every couple of hours. That is to get the swelling down. You should also elevate it as much as possible, and wrap it with an ACE wrap for compression (again to help keep the swelling down). If the swelling is largely located to the outside of your ankle, you are not going to further injure your ankle by walking on it as most people are pronators (unless you know you are a supinator which would further stress the injured ligaments). Do your best to walk as normally as possible. In 3 or 4 days you can start with gentle range of motion exercises ... the alphabet one is particularly good. Add the others in as you can tolerate. If it is not better in 2-3 weeks, you will need to go get it looked at.

Read the thread that Lisa posted ... it gives some very good suggestions ...

fitzy21 · 02-06-2007, 11:20 AM

thanks

yea, the swelling is mainly on the outside...no swelling on the middle or inside as of yet. so i've been walking on it, kinda limping, but doing my best. it really only bothers me when i just sit down for a while at class and it gets really stiff.

i kinda can go up on my toes when sitting down, but i can't go back on my heel yet.

i iced it last night, well i used the snow. same as this morning. just got a bag of snow. my dorm is a long ways away from the infirmary and the ATC to see a trainer, so the snow does just fine.

but i'll read that link.

thanks again

fitzy21 · 02-11-2007, 02:38 PM

i have some pretty bad bruising going on...even at the base of my toes...i don't know if thats normal or not. my friends were asking me why i had bruising around my toes since it was an ankle sprain. deep purple and blue

doc said its gonna be a while before it fully heals - not something i wanted to hear...but what can i do except for laugh now...

UConnJulie · 02-11-2007, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fitzy21

i have some pretty bad bruising going on...even at the base of my toes...i don't know if thats normal or not. my friends were asking me why i had bruising around my toes since it was an ankle sprain. deep purple and blue

doc said its gonna be a while before it fully heals - not something i wanted to hear...but what can i do except for laugh now...

Totally normal ... when you "sprain" the ligaments, they tear and bleed (thus all the swelling) ... after a few days, the bleeding has stopped and the swelling receeds, but gravity pulls the blood that was bled into the tissue to the lowest point. In a week or so it will be mostly gone. Did the doctor give you any exercises?

fitzy21 · 02-11-2007, 03:15 PM

ah ok, makes sense. yea, i can see that the coloring is getting lighter everyday.

no exercises from the doctor.

i'm gonna head to the athletic trainers later this week when i feel that i'm ready to some exercises. i read some of the exercises on the threads posted here too.

i went swimming on friday and i tried kicking with my left leg and it hurt a lot