The Klutzy Athlete Lives up to Her Name
The Klutzy Athlete has lived up to her name—again. Somehow I went from shooing the dog to twisting my ankle. Of course wearing snowshoes while doing so was not the most brilliant idea I’ve ever had. Experience speaking here, you either end up hurt or on the ground. I remained standing, but definitely hurt myself. Now I have a sprained ankle that looks like a black and purple grapefruit.
Of course I’ve been advised to stay off of it, elevate and ice. Let me tell you if you think a sprained ankle hurts, try soaking it in ice water for 20 minutes three times a day! It reminds me of when we wet-waded (just wearing shorts instead of waders) in Canada a few years ago. It was July, but the water temperature was in the neighborhood of 55 degrees F. We’d step out of the river and our legs looked sunburned they were so red. I’m sure my foot would look like that if it weren’t black and blue right now.
Rest
While I think it’s important to rest when your body needs it, when it starts to bounce back I see no reason not to get moving—within reason. And after three days of being immobile, I was ready to find ways to get active without lengthening my recovery.
Exercise
To elevate my ankle, I used some yoga poses. The first pose I used was legs up the wall. The second was a shoulder stand. After that, I started experimenting with poses that gave me some elevation, but didn’t put pressure on my ankle. I found boat pose was another, but I also did several others that just stretched my body and felt good.
I was also able to do some weight lifting of my upper body that gave me a workout without putting pressure on my ankle.
I also found it’s important to get the circulation into my ankle. There are some exercises that will do that, and speed my recovery.
- Lying on my back, I pulled my knee into the chest, holding behind the thigh not over the knee, and did 10 foot circles each way and 10 point and flexes with a goal of building up to 40/40/25. Repeat
Moore Park, Klamath Falls, Oregon on the healthy foot to keep that one strong and flexible.
- When I could put weight on my ankle, I stood on one foot for just a few seconds at a time and built up to 30 seconds 2x/day. Do both legs.
- Standing heel raises (up and down on the toes) is also recommended. If it hurts, I can do it seated.
Fort Klamath, Oregon This keeps the weight off the injured foot, but I’ll still get the movement and circulation, which will aid in my healing.
Keep exercising and wishing you a happy and healthy 2016.