sprained ankle healing tips and surfing

Mr Doof

Duke status
Jan 23, 2002
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1 A bad sprain can be worse than a break and breaks take about 6 weeks to heal. And yes, there is variability with timing because I am speaking in generalities. Don't push it. If pain persists when weight is applied in two weeks, maybe more than a sprain. Sometime a X-ray will provide some certainty one way or the other, and that can be mentally nice.

2 Is the adage about ice/heat something like "First 48 hrs is RICE (Rest Ice Compress Elevate) still true? Icing after first tentative movements is still a good idea until swelling mostly stays down...this still a recommended action by the sport physios?. I think people jump to the heat thing too fast on average nor do I think it always a 'this first, this next' thing, like "I only iced it for a week, now I am only applying heat."

3 Yay for helmet use! Helmet, decent footwear and gloves on two wheeled devices pretty much always worth it in all climates. Congrats on getting through the scrape with minimal injury.

4 Alcohol will inhibit healing. Minimize it.

5 Missing a few swells sucks, f^cking up your ankle for the rest of your existence is worse. Slow and steady isn't exciting, but you don't have to rip your ankle/leg hair nor peel up dermal tissue when time comes to remove a short term duct tape fix. But if you gotta surf, wrap it up best you can, and no whinging about the outcome (bragging that it worked is encouraged!).

6 Good luck, let us know how it turns out.
 
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santacruzin

Kelly Slater status
Oct 17, 2007
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valley purgatory
I read ice inhibits healing.

Compression is better moving without traumatizing the injury is more betterer.
new school of thought is that ice is really only for pain and that both ice and rest may delay healing.
I dont know if its all peer reviewed but you can find info online. Active recovery.
 
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Jul 4, 2006
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Honestly that doesn't look too bad. I would ice it for 10-15 minutes every hour or other hour as time allows. Take ibuprofen if available as that helps reduce swelling (600-800mg twice a day...not a doctor, but thats what I've done). Good chance it starts to feel better before it looks better; if you feel any clicking or cracking then I'd be more cautious as that could indicate ligament damage. If you have a brace or neoprene compression sleeve then that could help out in the surf.

For better or worse I've become an expert in ankle injuries. Dislocated my left ankle and broke my fibula, had rare benign tumor removed from my right ankle that caused excessive damage to cartilage plus years of soccer induced bone spurs. Broken bones aside, the only times my ankles have bothered me surfing post-injury or during pain flare ups have been when the waves have been really choppy or I've hit unstable white water and had the board jammed up into my feet without being able to absorb the impact with my legs. Didn't happen often but its always a possibility. Not sure which foot you use to duck dive, but thats the other thing you may want to avoid if you're used to using your injured foot to push the tail down; if you do that instinctively you may find yourself doing it before your brain can tell your body to stop.

As for ice being good or not, all I know is I've always felt better after icing than I did without ice. That goes for pretty much any swelling, shin splints, pulled muscles (post exercise), etc.

All that said, better to miss one swell and get a better read on the situation than to make it worse and miss a month or two. My broken ankle kept me out of the water for almost 6 months and that was really depressing. If it hurts to walk or change direction then be smart and stay dry for a few extra days.
 
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rts265

Phil Edwards status
Oct 19, 2007
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You’re hitting 50? Yeah sit this one out lol that thing is swollen as fuck.
 

sdsrfr

Phil Edwards status
Jul 13, 2020
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San Diego
Also worth mentioning - if you’re hobble walking and telling yourself it dont hurt, you will eventually re-teach yourself to walk incorrectly and then cause other issues when your mechanics are all out of wack.

relearning to walk as an adult sucks. make sure to stay honest with yourself and not rush the steps of recovery to a place you want to be.

get a walking boot of some sort. aircast was too little in my case.
 

Retropete

Phil Edwards status
Jan 20, 2006
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I'm amazed...not one poster up in arms about Indonesian police brutality yet..."Foreigner intentionally run down and left for dead" scream the headlines. If I was you I would get back to the USA asap as your injury requires months of rehabilitation in small mushy waves to fully heal.
Looks like that hit we put out on Truth on gofundme didn't net the results we stipulated. He's going to start torturing us wth more filthy Indo wave porn pics again within days.
;)
 

ElOgro

Duke status
Dec 3, 2010
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I'm amazed...not one poster up in arms about Indonesian police brutality yet..."Foreigner intentionally run down and left for dead" scream the headlines. If I was you I would get back to the USA asap as your injury requires months of rehabilitation in small mushy waves to fully heal.
Looks like that hit we put out on Truth on gofundme didn't net the results we stipulated. He's going to start torturing us wth more filthy Indo wave porn pics again within days.
;)
Well said. The mick is a prick like that.

Charge it Seamus!
 

Truth

Phil Edwards status
Jul 18, 2002
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you never know until you are hurt - but amazing how much force shoots up your back leg on bottom turns

over did it yesterday surfed all day got a few good ones but should have have a few lifetime tubes but ankle was in my head paddling for a few 8- 10 ft drainers

6-8 today going to surf today then call it quits for a week or so

surfed it with max 8 people yesterday
unbelievable
 
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Nov 15, 2016
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I snapped my fibula and maleolus while dislocating my ankle 10 weeks ago thus leading to an immediate addition of a plate, 9 screws, a wire, and repairing ligaments. I spent 7 weeks in a cast, after the first 2 they split it so it could be removable to try and regain some mobility eventhough it was f'ed up beyond belief. made progress each day trying to stretch and move it as much as possible and at 8 weeks I started walking. Im doing pt 2x a week for knows how long but at least it wasn't a sprain, cuz you know sprains are worse than breaks lol.

at least i can paddle a long board around to get some excersise, but i think it's gonna be 3-4 months til my feet are actually on a surfboard again.
 

Autoprax

Duke status
Jan 24, 2011
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you never know until you are hurt - but amazing how much force shoots up your back leg on bottom turns

over did it yesterday surfed all day got a few good ones but should have have a few lifetime tubes but ankle was in my head paddling for a few 8- 10 ft drainers

6-8 today going to surf today then call it quits for a week or so

surfed it with max 8 people yesterday
unbelievable
Your nervous system knows you are injured and puts the brakes on whether you like it or not.
 
Feb 13, 2021
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Oh, God! No heat at all. It will make it worse. First of all, you must make roentgen and consult a doctor. It happens that a closed fracture looks like sprains and dislocations. It seems that this is just inflammation, and you are wasting precious time waiting and only exacerbate the situation. When I fell off my surf and damaged my knee, a special brace helped me a lot. Indeed, a knee brace can provide support and compression to help heal many common causes of knee pain. These include Jumper’s Knee (aka patellar tendonitis), a maltracking patella, a sprained knee ligament, and many others.
 
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Waterlogged05

Michael Peterson status
May 14, 2005
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mine keeps re spraining when I push hard with my toeside rail, frontside bottom turns and pumping. Pushing pain up my ankle onto shin. back foot

It isn't bad but keeps getting reinjured every time i surf