Sprain ankle on lead fall

In the no good deed goes unpunished category, I took a nasty lead fall yesterday in the gym of all places.
A friend needed a victim to fall for him to get his lead certification so I was game. Taking an unannounced fall I was a bit ambitious and too far past the last draw. Now I’ve taken a ton of falls in my life both short and hard and big soft whippers but this day I hit with my right toe pointed down which slammed the foot nearly back to my shin before I caught.
Resulted in some nasty crunching and a bruised heel. I can barely walk today but swelling is not terrible.
Anyone go through this and if so how was the healing time. I ask cause I gave a climbing trip planned in 20 days. I know everyone and every injury is different but I’m open to advice on rehabbing this thing fast. You can see some swelling in the right foot and bruising to the heel. 

My ankle looks similar to yours and it was just from hiking out AFTER climbing. 

You need an exam to know if the ligaments are still intact, i.e., is this a 2nd degree or 3rd degree sprain. Also to do the Ottawa Ankle Rules protocol to be sure you don't need to be x-rayed for possible fracture. (It's clearly not just a 1st degree, they don't swell that much.) That'll allow you to estimate your healing and return-to-activity times, and plan the optimal rehab. A good family doc can tell you; if yours isn't up on things, a sports med doc will be worth asking.

I'm 18 mo out from a 3rd degree (a minor oops bouldering), still have a bit of trouble with it, but I was able to climb properly taped 8 wk later.

Start figuring out how to postpone your trip until next season. 

You'll probably not be near climbing by then. I tore a ligament in my ankle on a lead fall in November and didn't even put on rock climbing shoes until February. It's definitely relative to many variables but I was still braced at day 20.

Oh man.. horrible tattoo.

I too, took a fall for a new belayer who was practicing lead belays. Outside. Jumped off inelegantly, knew I did so, but hit the wall flat footed. It hurt, but, I didn't want to admit it and kept going, lol! Sacked up, as they say, didn't let the guys I was with know I was hurt. Took some more falls, got him airborne. I got myself back down the trail and to my car. I knew it was going to hurt like hell, soon enough. Stubborn only gets you so far.

I went straight to an urgent care place, with the ankle rapidly swelling on the drive back to town. I was barely able to hop/hobble in. It was bad enough they took x-rays, but fortunately it was just a sprain, and mildish, as these things go. As a fringe benefit, I can also report I have an arthritic ankle to go with my knees, lol!

Here is what mine looked like 7/4, right after:

Alternated ice and heat, and wrapped an ace bandage on it, only did both a day or so, but did heat fairly often and put it up when I was sitting down. Used a hiking pole to get around, and no boot or anything, although they offered. 

I babied it the whole time, but, I took my much awaited trip just a couple weeks after. Flying, driving, hiking to crags (including steep slopes), and yes, climbing, 7/25:

Made other trips after that, basically every two weeks, to City of Rocks. As of now? It feels fine, but still doesn't quite bend as well as it should, and I know it is at risk of injury. I used the hiking pole a lot, on those other trips as well. I bring one anyway, to help old knees along.

Go see an urgent care place, so you know what you're dealing with. "Crunching" is just not optimal.

Hope you heal up well, and fast!

Best, Helen

Keep your ankle elevated, ice periodically, take ibuprofen, and get yourself to an orthopedic dr ASAP, so they would x-ray and evaluate it.

Then, armed with that information, get yourself to PT, who would be the best person to come up with an efficient rehab protocol.

If you are lucky, and this is just a bruise and not-too-bad a sprain, you might be able to climb in 3 weeks, possibly with a brace. I had a bad ankle sprain (not from a climbing fall) that looked that swollen/bruised, I was non-weight-bearing for about 2 weeks, and I was climbing with a brace at 3 weeks.  

But honestly, if I had to bet, I would say that the chances are not great on your climbing trip. 

Thanks all. Headed to the doc now. And I kinda assumed I wouldn’t be doing much climbing. As long as I can walk in and watch the boys have fun I’m good!

mediocre wrote: Oh man.. horrible tattoo.

No doubt

Have you had a sprain before? Depending on the severity, walking any distance might even be out of the question as it could balloon up with fluid. I had one several years ago and healing took a good bit longer than I wanted, as in several months. I did end up TRing stuff at the gym with a boot on... It's kind of annoying in that if you don't support it or try to use it too much you'll risk tearing the healing tissue but if you don't move it some at the right point in the process it can become very stiff. I was pretty good with my PT and post injury care (I kept my leg elevated so much while I worked [at a desk on a computer] that the bruising ran up my leg, which the doc was very pleased with). It was very tender and I didn't want to re-injure it so the stupidest things made me pretty paranoid - just walking to the mailbox I was nervous about stepping on the edge of the driveway and twisting it again. Point is don't push it, you'll do more harm than good. 

Second the other comments about needing an exam to determine the extent of the damage. That being said I've had a sprained ankle that looked that bad and was able to resume a high level of physical activity quite quickly. Immediate swelling is not always a good indicator of the extent of the  damage. My injury did not come from climbing. I hurt it wrestling in college and was back to a normal training routine in two weeks. My ankle was heavily taped before workouts though to help prevent reinjury and it didn't feel normal again for several months.

Xrays Show no damage. Mobility seems to indicate no major soft tissue damage as well. As the doc says, treat it well and time will tell. Just have to see how much I get back in 20 days but the fact that I can walk on it now seems to bode well. 
I’ll be happy if I can walk in and belay the boys. But it definitely looks like I’ll be a spectator for our day at Stone Fort. I don’t think big boulders are in my immediate future. Hard pill to swallow when you live in south Louisiana and trips to Chattanooga are few and far between.
Maybe I can get some one footed top roping in!

Walk it off son.

Thanks for the moral support. Lesson learned. After reviewing security footage it was likely an extremely hard catch that did me in and helped to spike me into the wall. My belayer, rather than attempt any sort of soft catch, dropped a foot as soon as the rope was coming tight sending me straight to the wall. I will have no problem being picky about belayers from here out. I’m too old to be the guinea pig fall guy for lead certs.

This is how i snapped my achilles tendon, but outside.

Am in similar situation. Though my ankle doesn’t look “that bad”. Does tape work for folks trying to climb with this kind of injury?

Mark Orsag wrote: Am in similar situation. Though my ankle doesn’t look “that bad”. Does tape work for folks trying to climb with this kind of injury?

Basically the ankle will tell you. Taping is a must though. Push too hard too soon and it will swell up again

Mark Orsag wrote: Am in similar situation. Though my ankle doesn’t look “that bad”. Does tape work for folks trying to climb with this kind of injury?

I just spent 6 weeks tending to an ankle sprain from a lead fall.  I tried easing back into climbing at 4 weeks, and it was not ready, probably did more damage.  Then I slipped on a dusty walkway in a workshop yesterday and reinjured it.  My recommendation is to go see a doctor and don't risk a reinjury. Get a sturdy brace, mine was insufficient.  I had to cancel a climbing trip I had planned with a friend for next week, thinking that it would be fully healed (he was a good sport and didnt take my offer to pay for his cancelled flight).