I swim several times a week and the one day I decide to walk I manage to wipe out and break all three bones in my ankle.After surgery to put in plates&screws I'm now heading into week three of doing nothing.I've been told I'm looking at at least 8-10 weeks of some type of cast or boot,and who knows how much PT after that.Ironicaly I broke my other ankle when I was much younger and swimming was the only excersize I felt comfortable with.However,I now have much higher expectation from swimming then I did when I was 5-and I want to get back to what I was able to do before this accident.
Where do I start once I'm cleared for excersize?Do I try to do this on my own or find a specialist who works with athletes?I need to know that I will be able to rebound from this,and what to expect-but right now I'm just completely discouraged!:toohurt:
Parents
Former Member
My husband fractured his ankle last year, had plates and screws inserted, wore a cast then a boot for a long time. He went to physical therapy twice a week and eventually was cleared for riding the stationary bicycle and swimming. The physio was amazed at how quickly his range of motion improved once he started swimming. Well at first he was just sitting on the side of the pool with his leg in the water doing free kick. Later progressed to walking on the bottom in the shallow end of the pool and finally progressed to full swimming. That was the best way to gently increase his range of motion without injuring it. You can always do stuff like open turns or flip turns but only push off with the good leg until you feel comfortable enough that you won't hurt yourself pushing off with the bad ankle.
Have patience, it takes a while to recover from this but you'll get there. Sorry this had to happen, I'm sure it's been a painful period. Good luck with your recovery.
Thanks you for the advice and sharing your husbands experience!All i can remember from my previous ankle fracture was my utter fear of putting any weight onto my foot and not having much range of motion.How long did it take him to get back to 100%?
My husband fractured his ankle last year, had plates and screws inserted, wore a cast then a boot for a long time. He went to physical therapy twice a week and eventually was cleared for riding the stationary bicycle and swimming. The physio was amazed at how quickly his range of motion improved once he started swimming. Well at first he was just sitting on the side of the pool with his leg in the water doing free kick. Later progressed to walking on the bottom in the shallow end of the pool and finally progressed to full swimming. That was the best way to gently increase his range of motion without injuring it. You can always do stuff like open turns or flip turns but only push off with the good leg until you feel comfortable enough that you won't hurt yourself pushing off with the bad ankle.
Have patience, it takes a while to recover from this but you'll get there. Sorry this had to happen, I'm sure it's been a painful period. Good luck with your recovery.
Thanks you for the advice and sharing your husbands experience!All i can remember from my previous ankle fracture was my utter fear of putting any weight onto my foot and not having much range of motion.How long did it take him to get back to 100%?
