Back on my feet, a little floppy though

Its been almost a year since I tore my ligament. I am 99.9% Ok, and that is good enough.

Things are a bit different now after I tore my talo-fibular ligament on my left foot in a game of squash,

1. I can't run as fast as before. (pretty sure it is not the old age that has caught up). I think it is the confidence level. Can never be the same

2. there is still a small bump around my ankle. Doesnt hurt; not sure what it really is.

3. I can play squash now, but an ankle guard really helps with the confidence.

4. There is still a teeeny weeny limp when I climb down stairs; it looks like I am happy and hopping along; but when you see me do it all the time, it doesnt look quite so natural. 

5. I have stopped visiting this blog!

Ankle Rehab Exercises

check out these videos

Week 11 onwards - Gymming to Walk

I go to the gym regularly after removing the cast. The trick is to get the confidence back in you foot. Mine was hopelessly lost.

I limp and do not walk normally. There could be 2 reasons that have resulted in the limp
- Hamstring and calf muscles are atrophied and very weak
- Mind over body. I don't believe in my foot

My guess is that it is a bit of both and they continually are a function of each other. So as I strengthen my muscles, my confidence builds.

I wear an ankle guard while gymming. Really helps. And better to play safe.

In the gym,
- I do 10-15 minutes session on the treadmill. During this session, I walk at a slow speed (between 2-4) trying to ensure that I walk without a limp. Looking at your feet while walking is good feedback to the brain and helps walk steadily. (it is not a good idea to try and beat the mile-in-4minutes record on day 1!)

- 10-15 minute session on the cross trainer. Doesn't require too much ankle movement but helps put some weight on the ankle. Additionally helps strengthen hamstring and calves.

- 10-15 minute session of cycling. helps in ankle movement and really helps strengthening the muscles. This felt like the easiest of the 3 sessions.

After a few sessions, I also started doing some simple weights on the legs (especially the victimized one).

After each gym session, my foot is invariably slightly swollen. This is probably due to all the soft tissue and bone injury; and not the ligament tears. Over days though, the swelling after exercise has been coming down (very very slowly). Bit of rest again makes everything look normal!

After each gym session, I have some protein supplement to give the muscles all they need to grow.