Mountain Project Logo

Ankle Sprain??

Original Post
Ross Ayer · · Southington, CT · Joined Apr 2015 · Points: 62

I was gym bouldering yesterday, and I messed up my ankle. Fell on it, standard procedure: toes down, heel up, landed straight down on it. It really hurts today. Any advice other than RICE?

FrankPS · · Atascadero, CA · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 276

Advice? See a doctor and don't ask climbers for medical advice.

Tylerpratt · · Litchfield, Connecticut · Joined Feb 2016 · Points: 40
Ross Ayer wrote:I was gym bouldering yesterday, and I messed up my ankle. Fell on it, standard procedure: toes down, heel up, landed straight down on it. It really hurts today. Any advice other than RICE?
Central rock?
eli poss · · Durango, CO · Joined May 2014 · Points: 525
Ranivorous Troglodyte wrote:If you can't see a doctor today then pay attention to your pain scale, is it slowly decreasing in pain over time? Or is it staying the same? Has swelling (if any) gone down? Take a picture with your phone mark the time. Can you ambulate (move around) your limb with less pain as the day goes on? What does the pain feel like? Does it feel broken? Note the areas of pain and tissue abnormality (discoloration?) and also Compare to other good ankle. Make note of all this today if you can't see a doctor. And yeah RICE. Then see a doctor tomorrow. Sure these injuries are usually sprains, but could be fractured too. A sprain hurts but gets better slowly over time, a break just hurts the same all the time until you get treatment. Often sprains hurt worse than breaks. See a doctor. Don't chance it. Hope you heal up fast!
Good advice except for the part in bold. I've both sprained and broken my ankles and breaking it hurts a hell of a lot more. Most pain I've ever been in was my first night trying to sleep after breaking my ankle because I didn't want pain killers and the weed eventually wore off.
john strand · · southern colo · Joined May 2008 · Points: 1,640

I agree eli....if it's really broken then it hurts like hell. It's the 'small" fractures that cause real problems if you don't get care for them. Sometimes RICE does the trick and sometimes not.

john strand · · southern colo · Joined May 2008 · Points: 1,640

Nice pic....how big was the beast that did

that???

I posted up a post op ankle pic a while back and some wished I hadn't

Tylerpratt · · Litchfield, Connecticut · Joined Feb 2016 · Points: 40
Ranivorous Troglodyte wrote:Whatever. My right ankle fracture (Tibia fibula FX) hurt less than all my ankle sprains. But my left ankle fracture (recently) was so horrible it was the worst pain in my life. My friends call this pic "the butcher shop"
Jesus fucking christ man!
Tylerpratt · · Litchfield, Connecticut · Joined Feb 2016 · Points: 40
Tylerpratt wrote: Jesus fucking christ man!
I was eating a chicken drumstick!
Ross Ayer · · Southington, CT · Joined Apr 2015 · Points: 62
Tylerpratt wrote: Central rock?
Prime CLimb, sadly
Ross Ayer · · Southington, CT · Joined Apr 2015 · Points: 62
Ranivorous Troglodyte wrote:It could always be worse Ross!!! Muahahaha!!!
I was thinking that too. Dang
Backstep · · Redlands · Joined Aug 2016 · Points: 5
Ranivorous Troglodyte wrote:Muahaha. I apologize if anyone spewed their lunch...drumsticks included. Ya it's sucks this was from only a 10-15 ft (unprotected...stupid me) fall. Ross: keep us posted, I think I speak for all of us when I say we hope you heal up dude.
Holy crap dude, that is a hell of an injury. Not to get off the thread topic, but having seen that picture your helicopter rescue IMO was *entirely* indicated. One misstep on your behalf during self rescue and you risk that bloody bone spiking right into the ground, now you have an open fracture full of dirt and good likelyhood of developing a bone infection.
Long Ranger · · Boulder, CO · Joined Jan 2014 · Points: 619

Prime Climb! Nice! That brings me back.

Sprained ankles are super common. rest up! But realize that the ankle is going to take a long time to heal, and won't ever be as strong as before. You may want to look into PT therapy in a few weeks, to try to get it back to health.

I'm hoping it's not impinged. That's a bitch onto itself.

Ross Ayer · · Southington, CT · Joined Apr 2015 · Points: 62

Just an update: It was not a bad sprain at all. I am at about 85-90% strength back. I visited a doctor and got X-rays. I will be going to PT as well. I have been resting it, taking off four days post injury before leading a route to gauge. After about 2 weeks of building up core and finger strength with no actual climbing, I got back on the wall and felt pretty solid. Thank you all for the advice and tough love (@Ranivorous Troglodyte).

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Injuries and Accidents
Post a Reply to "Ankle Sprain??"

Log In to Reply

Join the Community

Create your FREE account today!
Already have an account? Login to close this notice.

Get Started.