TitaniuMerlin

My cycling season is over. Well, at least for 2 weeks i'd say. Took a spill playing indoor soccer last night and had to go to ER with a suspected Broken Ankle. It ballooned up pretty fast and started turning black and blue (hence suspected break) but XRay revealed that my bones were ok. Let me tell you, its hurts like hell and is prob the most serious injury i have ever suffered *knock on wood* but it means i wont be doing any riding in this glorious weather anytime soon.

ViperZ

Bummer, sorry to hear, Get well Soon!

jjmolyet

You will be back in time to miss all those spring high winds, GWS!

reneuend

Sorry for your mishap. Like jjmolyet mentioned, at least its not during Summer. Meanwhile, you can go review your bike for more bling opps!

GuitarWizard

Man, you must have a really short cycling season if it's over by the middle of May....

At least it wasn't broken though. Work on recovering from it, and you'll be back on the bike before you know it.

EventServices

You'll be back on it before you think.

Tips:
Don't eat like a horse.
Stretch daily.
Don't beat yourself up over it. Use this time as a way to force your body to rest.

TitaniuMerlin

Well i went into the health center on Thursday, wearing a sock and and the brace the ER gave me (the kind that has two metal rods in it that u can wear in a shoe though i was told not to put any weight on it). So i get there and take it off so the Dr. can look at it. First thing he asks if i had gone to ER and had X-rays. I tell him i had and that the XRays were negative. He says. "Ok, because i'd say its broken if you hadnt had X-rays yet. Its definately a Class 3 Sprain - probably with some torn ligaments." Just the news i wanted to hear! The bruising is pretty bad (i'll try and post some pics in this, but dont know how, gimme a min to figure it out) as was the swelling despite having iced it etc. So, they set me up to see an Orthopedist later that day (30 mins later, actually) so i go there and the Ortho starts pressing into varios spots to check that the tendos etc are ok. Its not a good thing when he presses his thumb into center part of my ankle and i yelp in pain. I ask him whats wrong with that spot being so tender. His response: it usually is only tender when you've torn the ligament that holds the two bones there together. Even better news! So that put me in a caste that i can remove (good thing, this way i can shower and ice the ankle) and tell me to come back in 5 - 7 days for more x-rays and the like (to see if the bones have migrated apart, which would = torn ligament). So this could be pretty serious and keep me off the bike for a looong time. I'm hoping there isnt a torn ligament, because if its a serious tear i'll have to have surgery, otherwise they'll set me in a permament cast for a while - either option isnt good as i am due to go to Australia to visit the girlfriend who is abroad there this semester for a month come May 17th. Ok, time to try and attach some pics. Ok,the pics arent best quality (small little webcame i have, that is hyper sensitve to light it seems) and you cant see full extent of brusing - it goes halfway up shine, my entire foot is swollen - cant bend toes and their are bruises at the base of each of them...but you get the general idea.

Patriot

Hey,

What do you think clipless pedals are for? You can ride with one foot.

Seriously, get well soon.

John Wilke

I would think you could turn the cranks over on the trainer in no time ... no pressure, just roll it over.

They gave you pain pills right?



jw

TitaniuMerlin

Well, update on the ankle. Still doing excersises and the like. They eventually put me in a metal boot once i could put weight on my ankle (3 weeks after i injured it) and got to stop wearing that about 1 - 2 weeks ago. Very very noticeable muscle loss though- my usually thicker right leg is now skinnier then my left. Havent attempted to ride or drive yet, and surgery is still a possbility. Not sure if i said this before, but the official diagnosis is a completely torn ligament and a partially torn tendon on the outside of my right ankle. A broken ankle in this case would have been much much better. Could take another 6 weeks or 6 months for me to get better.

oboeguy

Wow, that's rough. I did something similar to my ankle via basketball, but I came back sooner. In fact, riding was the first sort of real exercise I did as part of my rehab.

oilman_15106

You will survive. Had similar injuries several times. If you don't try to get back on the soccer field too soon and allow time to heal the total time you are out of commission will be shorter.

gm1230126

Cycling albeit easier gears will be the one thing that gets you up and back on the bike quicker than anything else regarding an ankle injury. It will help things stay loose and keeps calcium build up at a mimimum. Been there and done that. Good luck and God Speed on the recovery.

Bob S.

TitaniuMerlin; My 14 yo son had the same diagnosis in April. He lucked out. The Ortho assumed the worse, the ligaments were not torn, it was simply a severe soft tissue/bleeding event. His foot looked as bad, maybe worse than, your photos. He is now up moving, playing futsal & soccer again. Your situation was what were were facing with him.

Anyway, my point is, will the ortho allow you to do any swimming? It will help you keep muscle tone, conditioning, & not place much stress on the ankle.

Good luck with it. Bob

TitaniuMerlin

I did a little swimming the other week in Mexico, i just have to be careful if i try to push off anything. Cant run either. Problem with my bike is that its a double-chainring, so no "easy" gears to warm up with. Especially since i am pretty out of shape. Am thinking about setting up on the trainer so i wont have to deal with hills. As soon as i go back to school i plan on spending a lot of time in weight room working out my cardio and my legs to get them back in shape, and hopefully keep it going over the winters. i guess it really comes down to how motivated i am.

Yes, they thought i had originally torn the ligaments holding the tibula and fibula (the two bones in your leg) together due to where a lot of the pain was (and that would require a screw or two to fix) but an MRI revealed that wasnt the case, but the outside of the ankle is what was really damaged. Lots of soft tissue damage and bleeding too - family friend who is a radiologist and looked at MRI was amazed at the amount of bleeding etc that he could see, esp since it was about 3 weeks after i injured myself that i had the MRI.

Nessism

I've twisted the crap out of both my ankles before. It's farly common for the stressed tendons to rip a small piece of bone loose along the way. Good news is that the ankle is a redundent system and it should heal up well enough to not effect your cycling. Bad news is that your ankle will never be the same and you MUST guard against twisting it again. Don't ask me how I know all this.

Bob S.

Funny, same thing with my son. Turns out, the best advice we recieved was from MD family friends & relitives.

Sounds like the bike on the trainer is the best way to go, assuming the ortho has Ok'ed it. Once, you sart the riding, it should start to recover pretty quickly. Per chance, are you near any place where you can walk, then jog, & eventually run in soft sand. That will build up a set set of leg muscles quickly & give you a set of lungs to match. If you are not OK'ed for that, perhaps resistance running in a pool. The bouyancy will keep the weight off the ankle, but you should be able to give the legs a work out. Bob