Hi Eric, thank you for the great resource.
I was wondering if you could give me some insight in to an ankle injury and possible steer me in the right direction or offer some advice here.
I broke my ankle approx 5 years ago, playing basketball. I came down after a rebound and severely turned my ankle (inversion), which resulted in a sprained ankle and an evulsion(sp?) of the ligament in the medial/anterior part of my right ankle. Sorry I can’t remember the exact name of it. I had a cast on for only a week and a half then proceeded with rehab which consisted of strengthing and balance exercises as well as ultrasound to the affected areas. I think I may have rushed things too quickly with the strengthening which may of set me back a bit at first. My dorsiflexion ROM was severely compromissed. I couldn’t get the ROM past perpedicular of my ankle till about 3 months and then it was still slow going, even though my proprioception and strength were close to getting back to normal. I seemed to have injured my achilles as well since it was tender and swollen for a couple months. I’m believing this may have been the cause of the dorsiflexion problems.
Anyways I tried to give you the background as good as possible. Fastforward to today… I’m trying to get back in to the decathlon and have been doing tempo/GPP type work 2 to 3 times per week. My ankle can take a day or two of workouts then it tends to act up (tenderness on all sides of the ankle). Skipping rope and jogging seem to cause the most aggravation.
I’m guessing that there may be some scar tissue surrounding the joint which is causing me some problems. The overall size of the ankle is slightly larger than the uninjured one. It has been larger since the injury five years ago. As well the dorsiflexion of the right ankle is about 90% of the left. Stength and balance are generally the same as my other ankle.
In general the ankle hasn’t bothered me too much the last 5 years since I haven’t been doing too high a volume of running or skipping. Mainly sticking to the bike, doing my regular weight routine, playing volleyball, and basketball the odd time. As well calf raises (seated and standing) haven’t bothered me too much throughout the years.
I know that you can’t easily diagnose this over the internet but was wondering what you could offer me at least in terms of direction at this point.
By the way I live in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada, and have access to physiotherapists, ART specialists, accupuncturists, and probably others as I am willing to do what ever it takes! I have a few connections in the area.
Thank you very much in advance, and if you need any more specifics I will be happy to give them to you.