Ankle Injury

[malachite]

Hi,

I tore the ligaments in my left ankle and ended up having surgery. Since the surgery I was having treatment 3-4 times a week until recently.

I have a great deal of constant pain and was told by the surgeon that this is how it will be for me now as the injury was severe. Im unable to run and when I tried swimming the use of flippers just increased the pain and swelling and kicking of the ankle for breaststroke for example was a nightmare.

I was advised to keep exercising the ankle so I walk everyday and use a wobble board, but other than heat treatment, what would help ease the swelling and at times, severe pain that I experience after any kind of exercise? It gets to the extreme that I am laid up and on crutches for a week. I have also obtained the delightful plantar fascia and would appreciate any comments as to how to ease this when it flairs up. I was told to fill a plastic bottle with water and ice it then roll my foot backwards and forwards over the bottle. Would this help at all???

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Malachite.

[Ruth]

Hello,

You could try contrast baths for your ankle - this is where you have a bowl of warm water and a bowl of cold water (a few ice cubes in the water helps to keep it cold) and alternate between the two, spending as long as is comfortable (5-10 mins or so) in each one.

If your ankle is swelling, try using ice on it (making sure that you wrap the ice in a towel to prevent ice-burn) and see if this helps.

The plantar fascia may be due to your altered gait as a result of the ankle injury, I have heard that anecdotally the iced water can be of some help.

If you continue to experience problems with either problems I would strongly suggest you either get back in contact with the consultant or get in to see a physiotherapist for further rehabilitation.

Hope this is of some help, please let us know how things go!