Ankle injuries are something we are all prone to as runners. I’m just dealing with a very slight, but potentially serious, pain in my left heel which In dealing with in my usual way of researching the hell out it before I seek professional help, which I will do.
Sometimes I come across articles that I think would be suitable for HU consumption and this is one that appeared in my feed this morning that contains good descriptions and advice. I hope the link works
Cheers
Thanks for the useful link Brian - yep, it works for me. Amazing the level of detail we get to know our bodies at when injured 😀I hope yours heals quickly, take care of it well!
Yes, I suspect there’s quite a few of us here. 😅
An excellent article Brian. Having injured my left ankle after falling off a bike many years ago, there is still a definite weakness. This is a timely reminder to return to the physio exercises to build up strength again.
Yes, it is so easy to forget to attend to the exercises especially when there’s nothing wrong with our body at the time.
Interesting! I sprained my left ankle in two different ways during my initial graduation run of C25K.
The only thing I would say is don't leave it too long before seeking professional advice.
Great article Brian. And I hope your niggle settles down quickly.
I sprained my ankle badly before I was a runner and of course it came back to bite me again when I was on week 3 of C25K. Although I saw my GP at the time of the sprain, who advised rest, I didnt see a physio which would have been a better option. Years later, when I was a runner, a physio told me I should have had a recovery programme as he could still feel the damage!
As the article says, once you have an ankle injury it increases your risk of having another one and I can vouch for that as I went over on the same ankle on a night run a few years ago and that set me back several weeks ☹️
Since then, I do lots of regular strength and flexibility work and I avoid running on grass as there can be hidden holes 🙀 but I do run a fair amount on trails which has been fine 🤞
The one thing I remember from all my recovery was to stretch the calves regularly because an ankle injury shortens those muscles. I warm up my calves well before very run and I think that helps the ankles too.
Sorry for the long reply! Just realised I’ve been going on……… but hopefully you won’t make the same mistakes I made and you can sort it out quickly.
Gosh that really does go to show how important a recovery program is especially as we are prone to injuring the same spot again.
It was while running on grass that my ankle went over and I chose to ignore it and finish the run. How stupid was that? 👍 Posterior tibialis tendinitis saw me feeling very sorry for myself for a very long time. 😢 I try and stay off the stuff and I don’t run that far now anyway so less likely to come across a pot hole or divet.
I’ve been there too many times to remember, carrying on when I should have stopped 🙄 You’d think we’d know better…😂
I try to avoid walking in long grass too unless there is a well-walked path. It takes just one big hole to send us straight to the IC 😱
I wear zero drop shoes most of the time - even when knocking about and dog walking. They’re said to help strengthen ankles.
I think trail running definitely does! You can feel your feet and ankles flexing every which way
I hope you get your ankle pain sorted soon Brian 🙂👍
I think my spikes are negative drop 😬 Mind you, I Only wear those when I’m doing speed training and only then for a very short time. I think this may be why my heel is sore as I did do one session that was quite tough a few weeks back. I’ll train without them for now. I’ve skipped the last two training sessions to rest it but I am working out at home to maintain fitness.
I meant to add I do a whole lot more single leg balance work now. I might even get one of those wobble boards.
I’ve got a wobble cushion! I got mine for my knee but it’s good for ankles 👍🙂
Is that the “wobble” bit in your name? 🙂
no! It’s because I was a wobbly lady ☺️ I lost the weight but kept the moniker Lest I forget 🙂
Useful article!
Many things can go bad around the foot, given it is composed of 33 joints, 26 bones, and more than a hundred muscles, tendons, and ligaments. I’ve had two ankle/foot injuries, both years ago, both due to the fact that I simply wasn’t listening to a) signals of discomfort and ultimately pain and b) experienced forum runners. As a result l couldn’t run for months each time.
What caused them? Inadequate shoes (good shoes but not good for my feet), overtraining, running through discomfort and poor running form. Once the physio fixed it and the Mastercard made the physio smile, I got proper shoes, customised insoles and better knowledge of what training I could do and how to do it.
The most common error people do when developing an injury is waste time googling their injury and trying to ‘heal’ themselves instead of visiting a doctor. I did that and l paid for it with all sorts of inconvenience. 🙄
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