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:
A lot of us use stretch cords for rotator cuff exercises. But there is a book on how you can use these for all kinds of exercises to stay in shape.
nirsa.humankinetics.com/showproduct.cfm
It sucks to have a wounded body part of any kind, but the ankle is not as bad as it could be since you can workout so much of the rest of your body without aggravating this.
Injuries closer to the core--hip, back--are more problematic because almost any exercise hurts!
I agree with what everyone says here. As soon as you can get back into the water, do so. Modify your activity so it doesn't inhibit your ankle healing, but lets you stay in the water and with your teammates (if you have any.)
Karen's idea sounded great to me.
Good luck. It truly does suck to be sidelined, but knowing that A) you don't have to be sidelined completely, and B) this will heal eventually, and you will forget which ankle was even broken, should help you deal with the psychological aspect of this, which is often, in my experience, worse than the physical injury itself.
A lot of us use stretch cords for rotator cuff exercises. But there is a book on how you can use these for all kinds of exercises to stay in shape.
nirsa.humankinetics.com/showproduct.cfm
It sucks to have a wounded body part of any kind, but the ankle is not as bad as it could be since you can workout so much of the rest of your body without aggravating this.
Injuries closer to the core--hip, back--are more problematic because almost any exercise hurts!
I agree with what everyone says here. As soon as you can get back into the water, do so. Modify your activity so it doesn't inhibit your ankle healing, but lets you stay in the water and with your teammates (if you have any.)
Karen's idea sounded great to me.
Good luck. It truly does suck to be sidelined, but knowing that A) you don't have to be sidelined completely, and B) this will heal eventually, and you will forget which ankle was even broken, should help you deal with the psychological aspect of this, which is often, in my experience, worse than the physical injury itself.
