How I Healed A Grade 2 Ankle Ligament Tear In Less Than 3 Weeks
By Eric Mihelbergel
I am NOT a doctor or physical therapist or medical advisor, so do NOT do what I did without first talking to a professional. This is just a summary of what I did, and it is for entertainment purposes only.
I was at Canadian Hole in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. A big storm had just rolled through with the approaching cold front. As soon as the rain and lightning subsided I jumped in the water as it was ramping up to 3.3m quickly. I came in a little too shallow and went to back-wind jibe at full speed. I fell off the board and sat right on my ankle in about 12 inches of water. Grade 2 ankle ligament tear, both medial and lateral ligaments.
Within 45 minutes we were back at the house in full ice mode....twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off. I kept my foot elevated and wore a compression ankle sock. I took 600mg of Ibuprofen every 6 hours. Every few hours I applied Arnica cream to the injured area. The idea was to keep swelling and inflammation to an absolute minimum for the first 48 hours. The next day we had a 14 hour car ride back home, so we pack ice bags and I continued the ice routine all the way home while trying to keep my foot elevated. I also continued with the Ibuprofen and Arnica cream as well as the compression sock. To prevent inflammation think RICE = Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.
For the next few days I wore a stiff brace on my foot, taking it off at night to allow good blood flow and of course taking it off during therapy as well. I started with very simple therapy for the first few days. It included light massage to the calf and ankle, plus rolling the bottom of my foot on a golf ball. I wanted to keep blood flowing and keep muscles loose to promote healing. I did several repetitions of opening and closing my toes and very gentle circular twists of my foot in both directions. Again, this was designed to increase blood flow and keep muscles loose. I did this therapy 3-4 times per day and each session lasted about 10 minutes. I applied heat as often as possible throughout the day to also help increase blood flow and I slept with a sock on my injured foot to keep it warm. I made sure my nutrition included my usual 120grams of quality protein each day along with my normal amount of healthy carb and fat intake. The body heals faster when given proper nutrition.
For the next few days I wore a stiff brace on my foot, taking it off at night to allow good blood flow and of course taking it off during therapy as well. I started with very simple therapy for the first few days. It included light massage to the calf and ankle, plus rolling the bottom of my foot on a golf ball. I wanted to keep blood flowing and keep muscles loose to promote healing. I did several repetitions of opening and closing my toes and very gentle circular twists of my foot in both directions. Again, this was designed to increase blood flow and keep muscles loose. I did this therapy 3-4 times per day and each session lasted about 10 minutes. I applied heat as often as possible throughout the day to also help increase blood flow and I slept with a sock on my injured foot to keep it warm. I made sure my nutrition included my usual 120grams of quality protein each day along with my normal amount of healthy carb and fat intake. The body heals faster when given proper nutrition.
After the first week I slightly increased the intensity of therapy. It was time for some very light resistance exercise. I used a physical therapy rubber band around my foot to provide a very small amount of resistance as I moved my foot through a variety of angles against the band resistance. This was intended to start strengthening the area a little and increase blood flow. I continued the heat therapy as well as the massage therapy three times per day. A few days later I started doing gentle calf raises. There was a little discomfort doing some of these exercises, but it was not strong pain. If there was any strong pain during exercises I immediately backed off.
After day 12 I tried to windsurf, but the ankle wasn't ready yet. One reach out and back, and I stopped. Too much discomfort. I could tell it just wasn't ready. Slowly I continued to increase therapy intensity, while I continued with the usual heat and massage protocol. On the 2 week mark I started doing light squats. I also began gentle ankle movements on a Bosu ball with partial body weight at first and then full body weight after day 16. I made sure I was pushing off the big toe when walking around, and I stopped wearing any kind of brace even during cardio.
For the next week, I continued therapy 3-4 times per day and every session included massage, resistance, and stretching at different levels of intensity depending on how I felt. Most sessions lasted only about 10minutes. With frequent sessions I felt that it was not necessary for the sessions to be very long. After 2 weeks there was little pain, but still some stiffness. My first successful windsurfing session was on day 19, less than 3 weeks after the injury. It was a one-hour session, but the ankle felt pretty good. I continued with therapy for another month to make sure that things continued to heal well.
I hope these ideas are helpful. Please remember that I am NOT a doctor or physical therapist or medical advisor, so please do NOT do what I did without first talking to a professional. This is just a summary of what I did and it is for entertainment purposes only.
