Ankle Ligament Problems

Morpheus

ok firstly to the moderator.....

i posted this in fitness, but its more of a medical problem that im hoping someone else has suffered and they can give me some feedback, i regularly see a physiotherapist so it is being treated properly so please dont remove it, you could remove it from fitness, no-one there seems to be suffering a similiar injury, maybe it should be in soccer being soccer related, but it is causing me personal trauma.

last year i tore the ligaments in my right ankle playing soccer, i was out for 6 months, then the injury re-occured, while getting physio 2 weeks ago i discovered i had fallen arches, dunno how the physio never picked it up before.

anyway i need orthotics, but while im getting them i was wondering, if anyone has had fallen arches and what ways they treated them, i have some exercises the physio gave me, but my understanding is that exercises will only help a litlle, that once fallen, arches never raise again. id prefer if i could do something natural about them, rather than depend on orthotics, but im not dumb, im getting the orthotics anyway!

My biggest problem...my ankle remains weak, im wondering if anyone suffered a similiar injury, just how long it took for recovery, i strap it before playing sports and always wear a support at work and during the day, When i do anything strenuous on my feet i ice the ankle that night. I played soccer yesterday and today it is very tired and a little sore.

ive been given the all clear by my physio to return to training, but ive to get the orthotics as soon as possible to improve my arches.


I use a wobble board




I do the following on the wobbleboard....

Both feet:
2 minutes balancing with eyes shut (helps priopreceptor recovery)
1 minute 30 sec balancing rocking forward and backward
1 minute 30 sec balancing rocking right and left

One foot only (repeated for second foot)
30 sec balance eyes shut
1 min eyes open rock forwards and backwards
1 min eyes open rock right and left



and thera band



These are the exercises i do with the thera band.....

these are repeated for the other foot too
Turning right foot in towards left foot, 15 reps
Turning right foot away from left foot, 15 reps
stretching right toes down as far as possible, 15 reps
pulling toes back towards my knee, 15 reps


I know to someone who may never have suffered an ankle injury, or who has but hasnt heard of these exercises this is confusing, so if you dont know what im on about let me know and il clarify.

Im hoping somone out there has suffered an ankle ligament injury and has used these items and exercises in recovery, i want to know should i do them more than once a day? I also do ankle exercises at work when i can.

anyone here with any advice please give me your wisdom!!!!

Amz

I have fallen arches and have been using Orthotics for two years now and find them very good. The wobble board exercises are to improve proprioception in your muscles so that the muscle memory will improve.

before I got my orthotics the physio taped up my feet for a few days and this helped. Some people find this painful however but suss it out with the physio.

Another exercise I did (should probably still be doing it but laziness has gotten the better of me)

Stand with your right foot on a Telephone Directory preferably the yellow pages as this tends to be thicker. Keep your foot at approximately 45 degree angle ie your heel towards one corner and your toes pointing towards the top corner diagonally opposite (sorry bad descriptions) Anyway keep the left foot off the ground, bend the right knee slightly moving towards the floor however don't let your left foot touch the ground, restraighten your right leg and repeat the action.

Repeat the action with the other foot resting on the book. Try not to hold onto anything as this will force you to improve balance.

I'll figure out how to explain that better in a while sorry

thegills

Morpheus.
I have torn ligaments a number of times, both ankles. 6 months would be the longest I have been out when I tore both ligaments from the ankle. I wouldn't have done as much exercise as you (I do the same type but without the wobble board). I would say that there is still something wrong if you are still experiencing pain, probably related to the fallen arches. There's no substitute for running exercises on top of what you are doing.

Can you tell me did the arches fall after the injury? I might be in a similar position but not even know.

thegills

Morpheus

I dont know, the physio thinks it was down to bad footwear in the last two years.

basically i bought shoues that were too big for me, then i bought a pair of football boots that were a little too small for me, too big and your foot moves around all over the place, you end up scrunching your toes up to keep the shoe on flattening your arches each step (this can give you severe shin splints too) and as for the football boots that were too tight, well they forced my arch to flatten out because the top of the boot (where u lace it up) put too much pressure on the top of my foot and forced it to flatten out when i ran, extremely painful but i in my total muppetness thought i was "breaking" in the new boots when i was just breaking my foot!

You can see if you have fallen arches by performing the wet test, basically google "wet test" and fallen arches to see what it is, its just damping the sole of your foot and leaving a wet print on a dark towel, or news paper so you can examine it, there should be a big cresent shaped area of dry towel under where your arch was on the towel, if this is partially or completely filled in then you have fallen arches.

Rather than be caused by ankle ligament damage, the opposite applies and the arches can actually cause the ankle ligament injury to re-occur because you tend to walk in on your foot, i.e the inside part of say your right ankle rolls down onto the top of your foot bone because the right arch collapses.

if you feel you have fallen arches, get it checked quick smart or you will get arthritis soon, im 26 and he said, orthotics or arthritis in 5 years... the choice is yours.... im getting mine next month!

im still going to physio, so i think i may have set myself back a week or two playing soccer on hard-ish ground, il go see her again this or next week.

i have to get the tape bandage to tape my self up before training, il introduce running this week too and see how it goes.

any more suggestions, experiences, anyone! please supply them!