UKC

Hi there, I am kind of new to the sport, loving every minute!

I sprained my ankle 4 days ago landing on it badly. I can walk on it fine, it's just a bit swollen and twisting it is a bit painful. I'm really keen to get back on the wall, any idea how long I could wait? I feel I could go and do some easy routes with my splint on, I read that's possible.

In reply to thecliff:

If you can fit the splint into a climbing shoe (there are some football ankle braces that work well for this, or taping arrangements) and avoid doing anything that might damage the ligaments further while they're still healing, you're good to go.

So, no impacts (or any movements that cause actual pain) until your ankle's feeling solid and ready to handle it again. You have to play it by ear and listen to your body.

At first, you might need to stick to top-roping, if you're doing routes. I was solely a boulderer (and also very new to the sport) when I first sprained an ankle, and ended up spending some time just doing hard sit-starts then stepping down off the problem as soon as I was a foot or two above the ground -- it was frustrating, but as a result I got a lot stronger and my technique for sit starts got way better fast.

The big danger with ankle sprains is that they can leave your ankle weaker and more likely to be sprained again in future.

Google "ankle sprain rehab" and start doing the exercises religiously (whatever you can do without pain -- discomfort's okay, pain is bad -- then build it up over time as your ankle can handle more).

Good wishes for a speedy and uncomplicated recovery!

In reply to thecliff:

Having sprained both my ankles so many times as to be sure I will always sprain at least one on the way down any mountain, my recommendation for rehabilitation is to go and buy a wobble board, the circular sort not the rocking sort.

But as mentioned above, that ankle will always be weaker now.

In reply to Rigid Raider:

I second the wobble board recommendation. Great for rehab and prevention of future sprains, also just kind of fun.

Once your ankle's recovered, it's worth keeping up regular "prehab" exercises -- brushing your teeth while standing on one leg is a good one (if it gets too easy, do it with your eyes shut, and remember to alternate legs).

super ! thanks guys

In reply to thecliff:

I sprained my ankle really badly 3 years ago, no idea how I didn't break it. It was a total mess. I started climbing again basically as soon as I could actually weight the foot while climbing, which I think was 5 or 6 weeks. Within a year it was just as strong as the other one but it was an agonizingly slow process. Start gentle exercises/stretching asap so you don't loose too much flexibility etc

In reply to thecliff:
I can't claim to be an expert but I have sprained a few ankles...

Top tip:
Don't sprain your ankle at the Foundry, hop to the pub. Hop (with the aid of a walking pole) upto High Neb the next day to go soloing, then go on a 10 day sport climbing trip to Bourgogne unless you are comfortable with being told you are a pillock by an orthopaedic surgeon and spending several months in physio followed by 7 years of your ankle randomly collapsing under you

Do less exercise than you think you should, for a few weeks. Take some NSAIDs but don't use them as a crutch, if it twinges stop doing it. When you are feeling better do some low impact exercise:

Stand on your good leg, balance for as long as possible.
Stand on your bad leg, feel happy if you can manage half the time.
When your bad leg is feeling better close your eyes, this is harder than you think

Get a wobble board or similar and once you feel better do lots of exercise to build ankle stability and co-ordination, like walking on rough ground etc.

Best of luck.

In reply to Reach>Talent:

Another top tip:
Don't start indoor bouldering again while your ankle is still tender, relying on being able to land with almost all your weight on your other foot. Only to then overload that ankle too and hobble painfully out on crutches with matching limps.

In reply to thecliff:

The supporting muscles that give stability to the legs and ankles need regular work, otherwise the become weak. 95% of my fitness now comes from road cycling and occasionally skiing, in both sports the legs are held rigidly in place by footwear and clip-in cleats, so my stability muscles have become weaker and when mountain walking I find I'm a bit unsteady.

In reply to thecliff:
Ultra sound and frictioning and a couple of sessions with a physio wouldn't do any harm if you can afford it, but generally being active and keeping climbing (but not landing on it) combined with a wobble board and looking into rehab you can do yourself would hopefully be enough.

As a person of 12 who'd managed to sprain both ankles in both directions a few times, my ankles hurt at first when I first started going to the Foundry, and gradually they got stronger through climbing. Physio would probably help to speed things up a bit, but so long as you listen to your body and are pro/active, you ought to be okay in the long term.

Having had amazing treatment for a really badly torn ankle ligament (where my whole lower leg went black/weird colours and swollen as a result and I was given crutches to help with walking) at the Whitehouse on Sandygate Rd in Sheffield, though, I'd probably always recommend a visit to a good physio. That ankle is as strong as it ever was.

In reply to Rigid Raider:

I find I can tend to nearly twist an ankle after I've been cycling a lot, I think it's thought that cycling can make it a little bit more likely to happen, but I'm not sure why.

I was talking to a climber a friend about wanting to keep as flexible and agile and generally bouncy as I always have been, and he seemed to think that being a climber might help make one think like this - hopefully staying generally active helps ankle strength and stability.

In reply to thecliff:

Like others I sprained my ankle (falling from 1m), rested till I felt better (6 weeks or so), started bouldering again, and then had several relapses and took over a year to get it working well again. Yours might not be as bad as mine, but I needed to improve my ankle strength and retrain the tendons/muscles with the help of a physio. I saw a private one for a session to get me started, and then saw an NHS one (2-3 months wait) over a few months. I think good physio is the right exercise at the right time, and it can be worth getting your ankle assessed to see where you are.

Using a wobble board/cushion as suggested by others is a good start, including some time with your eyes closed too.
If it is too sore for that then you can do the same just standing on one leg for a while. Once that feels fine then try jumping, then hopping in a square, and finally hopping up and down steps. If you can repeatedly hop up and down two steps on your bad ankle and feel fine then you are probably ok. It took me several months to progress to two step hopping.

Good luck with your recovery!

Robert

In reply to thecliff:

Curiously this thread reminds me that I have been experiencing an odd thing with the same ankle that I actually dislocated 33 years ago jumping backwards off the wall at the Sobell Sports Centre in London and landing on the edge of one of the cushions. That I laid there screaming in agony, my vison clouding out, while not one single one of my fellow climbers did a single thing to help me, leaving me to hop to a payphone and call a taxi to A&E, doesn't make me feel bitter, oh no. If you were there and you did nothing but gawp, shame on you.

Anyway back to the ankle.... for several months now I've been unable to put any weight on it for a few minutes after getting up in the morning. It's not painful; it just doesn't want to take any weight. I put this down to weakness in the supporting structures because 100% of my fitness comes from road cycling at the moment. A physio has confirmed to me that the dislocation is probably the cause.

So get that wobble board and wobble every day.