High Ankle Sprain

[eric42434224 1]

I have been diagnosed with a high ankle sprain. Had it about a week, and it just doesnt seem to be healing. Going to an Orthopedic Specialist tomorrow to see how bad it is. Anyone here have the unfortunate luck to get one of these? Anyone know treatments that might accelerate the healing process?

[Chadd 916]

Staying off of it and not pushing it is the best way to heal. They can be a real pain in the ass and the usual line is that they "can be worse than a break".

[coryroth24 15]

They suck. That's about it. Stay off of it the best you can. Don't push yourself to get back on the ice just because if feels better, because it isn't. I stayed off mine for two weeks, felt great. Went out to skate and re-aggravated it with in five minutes by turning the wrong way on it. Took me about three months to be 100%. Heck, even look at Brian Rolston a few seasons ago with the Devils. Played 12 games, sprained his ankle and missed like 4-5 months. I've heard people say you're better off breaking your ankle...

[eric42434224 1]

damn........not what I was hoping to hear.

[dayroc 0]

How did you get it?

I got one about 3 years ago, it took me a good 2-3 months to heal. Even till today i can almost feel it crack sometimes (not a bad crack more like a knuckle crack).

I remember got mine by just falling down, while skating backwards, looked like i tripped over the blue line. It hurt a TON, but i got back up and a few mins later i finished the game. Didnt really hurt till the next morning.

Anyway sorry for the rambling. You should stay off it for a few weeks. Just to be safe rather than sorry.

[evor1 6]

not sure what kind of sprain i had but it was like 6 months before it was completely healed.

[legiahockey 3]

im sorry man. ive had a bad sprain and another sprain/fracture this seaso. i cut my cast off after two weeks bc i wanted to walk for christmas and new years parties. worse mistake. 6 months later still in pain. take it easy as long as you possibly can. stay off of it longer than recomended if you can just to be safe. ankles are no joke.

[doodman 0]

Ah lucky you I did research on exactly this sprain when completing my masters program :D

syndesmotic ankle sprain: google it for pictures/illustrations/explanation etc.

the problem is this sprain is not the usual ligaments that are sprained (like in basketball or football), so people who suffer from it don't know how to treat it.

This sprain is actually the ligaments that hold the tibia/fibia together just above the ankle.

You CAN'T tape it like a 'regular' ankle sprain.

Everytime you put weight on it the bones want to separate (which redamages the ligaments), which is part of the reason it takes so long to heal.

[coryroth24 15]

Interesting to know what's going on in there. I feel more smarterer now.

[dayroc 0]

Ah lucky you I did research on exactly this sprain when completing my masters program :D

syndesmotic ankle sprain: google it for pictures/illustrations/explanation etc.

the problem is this sprain is not the usual ligaments that are sprained (like in basketball or football), so people who suffer from it don't know how to treat it.

This sprain is actually the ligaments that hold the tibia/fibia together just above the ankle.

You CAN'T tape it like a 'regular' ankle sprain.

Everytime you put weight on it the bones want to separate (which redamages the ligaments), which is part of the reason it takes so long to heal.

yea that makes sense.

I couldnt tape it up or anything. Took a long enough time to heal. I can sometimes feel it crack here and there.

I know i stopped all activities during that time and just sat and rested.

Al though, now that i think of it i dont think my sprain was that severe.

As much as you want to play, just stay off of it and let it heal fully. All the money (or hockey equipment) in the world would mean nothing if you dont have a your health or ability to fully enjoy life.

[doodman 0]

One of the problems with this sprain is it's really hard to tell how much it's healed (or damaged for that matter).

I've seen guys who cant put any weight on their foot with skates on, but can walk around pretty good in shoes.

If you feel pretty good walking around, that's no indication of how you will feel on skates.

I've had this sprain a couple times, and it's always taken longer to heal than a 'normal' sprain

[JoeyJ0506 192]

Just look at Crosby, Fleury, and Gary Roberts three seasons ago. Fleury fell goofy in the crease and came up with the High Ankle Sprain, Crosby slammed into the boards and came up with his sprain, and Gary Roberts got a two-for breaking his leg and suffering the ankle sprain at the same time.

Both Crosby and Fleury literally took a couple months to come back. Crosby pushed it, and aggravated it causing him to miss a bunch more games because of it. Roberts' sprain actually outlasted the broken leg.

Those are professional athletes, I do not think this is an injury to mess around with.

[sickwilly 37]

I'm sorry to hear about your injury. I wish I had something encouraging to say, but I don't. Count me among those suggesting that you be very cafeful about not getting back on it too soon.

My ankle sprain (and repeatedly trying to get back on it too quickly) cost me almost a full season hockey. I hope yours heals quickly!

[gxc999 7]

You have to use the RICE method, Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. The rest part is really obvious, stay off it. Ice is simple as well, 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off, 4-5 times a day (no more than 5). Compression can be a brace, tape etc, depending what works best for you. Elevation is often the most underrated part of this, really TRY to keep your ankle slightly above heart level, it will help the healing a lot. A roommate of mine's Dad was a noted pro sports Doctor and gave me this exact advice for a very similar injury.

One thing I'd like to add is that after 10-14 days, you might wish to begin using a heating pad in addition to, or instead of, ice.

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

Sorry bud.. to really heal this it's going to take 4 - 6 weeks. As everyone else said - RICE!!!!

[eric42434224 1]

Saw the Orthopedic Specialist today. He confirmed my amateur diagnosis of the High Ankle Sprain. He said it is a "stable" sprain, meaning the ligament holding the two bones together is inact and not torn. This is good as it means no pins, casts, or boot. He said it is not very severe, and that the RICE treatment wont do much good at this point....being 10 days after the initial injury. He said I can play hockey when I feel it is fully healed...which is difficult with a soft tissue injury. He just said to stay off it as much as possible and tape it up when I get back on the ice. He said it could take 2 weeks to 2 months, but he thinks it wont take 2 months unless I re-injure it. 2 good things....the D-man we had to replace this upcoming season (starts in 1 week) isnt leaving town for 3 weeks and will fill in for me.....and I got cortizone shots for my shoulder for only one co-pay! :)

[eric42434224 1]

Got on the ice for the first time last night. Akward at first and pretty painful. But I was told that is to be expected. Skated reasonably well, and feel no ill effects today.

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

Congrats, your a quick healer!!

[eric42434224 1]

Congrats, your a quick healer!!

Yeah....almost a month may seem long, but I guess it is pretty quick for a high ankle sprain. I still have a ways to go as it is by no means 100%. Ive never experienced such a nagging injury....very frustrating.

[evor1 6]

playing on a sprain isnt the hard part. that doesnt mean its healed. youll realize this when you fall and your ankle hurts 10x more than it did before.

[kovey10 0]

I dealt with a high ankle sprain last year and I was out for about 3 months. I wish I could play after 10 days, but I was still on crutches and my ankle couldn't fit in a boot if I lubed it up. It took alot of ice and time but after a grueling 3 months I was back on the ice with no pain. My ankle feels great and I've had no problems with it since it happened, which was over a year ago.

[eric42434224 1]

playing on a sprain isnt the hard part. that doesnt mean its healed. youll realize this when you fall and your ankle hurts 10x more than it did before.

I certainly dont think it it fully healed. I know it isnt. But it has healed enough for me to play. It has been approx 4 weeks since the initial injury.

Actually, I did fall, and it hurt like hell. I was on the bench for about 5 minutes and the pain was back to bearable....then got back on the ice for another 45 min.

Iced it that night, and the ankle feels better than it did. Feels looser this week. Looking forwrd to a game on Wednesday. I will be stretching it in hot water before the game, and will be taping it up.

[Evomike1 0]

If you have an athletic trainer, ask them for a high ankle tape job. It is slightly different than a normal tape job designed for inversion ankle sprains. Make sure you allow the injury to heal and do your rehab religiously. You don't want to get into the re-injury cycle and make this a chronic thing.

[ponty 0]

This thread is very timely for me and it gives me ideas of what I expect now that I am entering the rehab phase for my ankle sprain / broken leg.

Its sounds like the hard part for everyone, including me is the stiffness and lack of range once you get going again. I am probably a couple more months away from hockey but did my first short run today.

It was stiff for the first half of the run but got better. I agree if you ankle moves in a awkward way just a little it hurts like hell.

Any how good luck on your continued recovery.

[eric42434224 1]

If you have an athletic trainer, ask them for a high ankle tape job. It is slightly different than a normal tape job designed for inversion ankle sprains. Make sure you allow the injury to heal and do your rehab religiously. You don't want to get into the re-injury cycle and make this a chronic thing.

What rehab is there for this injury?

The orthopaedic doc said there really wasnt anything I could do to help the injury except at this point other than to make sure, on the days I play, to stretch it in hot water, tape it up, and ice it afterward.