Ankle sprain

Daryl · Posted: 1/22/2004, 6:26 pm Post subject: Ankle sprain

I have a minor ankle sprain that has been nagging me for a few weeks now. It's not slowing me down, mostly just annoying.

Question: what's the best way to heal it? Stay light on it for a few weeks? Continue doing what I'm doing (1-2 hikes per week and low tops)? Where high tops for extra support until it's better? Wrap the bejesus out of it? Cut it off?

Thanks.
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Trishness · Posted: 1/22/2004, 7:28 pm Post subject:

Daryl,

I sent you a PM about this Smile

Trish
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~~~Trish~~~

"Eastward the dawn rose, ridge behind ridge into the morning, and vanished out of eyesight into guess; it was no more than a glimmer blending with the hem of the sky, but it spoke to them, out of the memory and old tales, of the high and distant mountains." � J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of The Rings.

sam_hikes · Joined: 07 Apr 2003 Posts: 383

RICE method has worked for me.

Stay off it and get some hiking boots and likely you won't have further ankle problems.

Daryl · Posted: 1/22/2004, 9:07 pm Post subject:

Thanks Trish!

I'm not good at resting for more then a day or two. I'll try a brace for a week or two, go back to high tops for now and do the rest thing only if those don't help.
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IAHiker · Joined: 23 Dec 2003 Posts: 29 Location: Scottsdale

When you sprain an ankle you throw off your proprioception (Your body's sense of itself in space) to that joint. This makes the joint weak and prone to re-injury. How many times have you seen people re-sprain the same ankle? Or perhaps re-sprained the same ankle yourself over and over. The RICE method is great for the acute healing of the ankle and I always add in some proprioception exercises after 72 hours of injury. A simple exercise would be tracing the alphabet with your toes (of the sprained ankle side of course). This can be done while watching TV or even eating dinner. (Be careful not to be chewing gum, could be doing too many things at once.) A more advanced proprioception exercises would be the wobble board. You've probably seen these at your gym. So with your proprioception back up to par, the occurances of re-spraining should decrease. Hope this gives you some food for thought.

-Mark
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"Strive for Excellence"