Rolled my right ankle - rolled to the outside over my foot - about 15 years ago stepping in a rut on the golf course. Then began a decade long sequence of healing somewhat before reagravating it to minor or major degree. Saw a couple of orthos over the years. The best, based on mris, said it was moderate but not much could be done. Got a few cortisone shots which helped.

Did all the normal treatments. Eventually seemed to go three or four years without reinjury. This year, unfortunately, I have rerolled it 4 or 5 times. As was starting to happen before it actually hurts as much in the front inside quadrant as the outside. Crackles and pops like crazy when walking. Doc had said after last mri that there was some debris in the front inside quadrant, but not enough to warrant surgery. This last sequence (including this morning when I stepped on an acorn) has seemed to get worse and wosre,painful and depressing, but not bad enough that I cannot walk.

I ha e a really good brace. I have done so much icing over the years that I actually lost feeling in the skin on the outside of my ankle. Don't want to, can't really afford to be laid up, to have surgery unless it was a sure thing permenant fix. Not sure what to do. Try to rehab. Try to get out of the brace quickly.

Any suggestions? Just so completely tired of this crap!

I'm certainly no expert but I can share my story regarding ankles. I was active in sports in my youth and had my share of ankle sprains. Continued playing softball and basketball through college and beyond with more problems....particularly my left ankle. I slid into a base when I was 27 years old and severely sprained it. From that point forward there was no stability and the bending of my foot was limited.

Finally made my way to an ortho about 7 years later. He said to take the cortisone shots so I did. Really didn't do anything. I hate doctors so I stayed away and just got by for another couple of years. Stepped out of my truck one day on the side of a hill and went down.

Swallowed my pride and went back to ortho. He said if I wanted he'd reconstruct the ligaments. Called the Brostrom procedure. Went in and performed it. I was home that day, but recovery was a *****. 12 weeks of no weight at all followed by another 8 weeks in a walking boot and then 12 weeks of rehab. I thought I had made a bad decision in the middle of all that. But now after 4 years post surgery I know without question it was the best decision of my life. Haven't had a single mishap since then other than a twist here or there.

I've also gained a major appreciation for rehab when an ankle is twisted. If I would have done proper rehab all those times I sprained it in high school and college I would have never had a problem.

Long story short, rehabbing the ankle is a major undertaking compared to acl/mcl type surgery as far as getting up and moving on both feet. That said, it will make your ankle feel like it's 10 years old again when all is said and done. Hope that story helps in some way. I know the aggravation that comes with an unstable ankle and the inability to really push yourself out of fear of a sprain.

Not a doctor either, but I am very familiar with what you are going through. I had a very similar experience, and the same procedure, as Country.

I had mine over 10 years ago while active duty military. I still remember how worthless and lonely I felt during those several months from repeated ankle injuries, then the additional frustrations with my leadership (and even the military docs I saw) when they started questioning if I was making these injuries up. 2 minutes with a civilian surgeon, and I was scheduled for surgery the following week.

Surgery was far from instant relief. My recovery was painfully slow (very similar to country), but I did eventually return to being a healthy soldier. I did another 2 years in the military after surgery with no further issues. Even now, I've completed a couple of 5ks and 10ks and one half marathon uninjured.

Because of my experience, I am very proactive with flexibility and recovery exercises, and I go see Airrosti (and rarely an ortho) for any nagging lower body pain. I have a 2 year old now, and I need to stay healthy just to keep up with her.

Look up Squat University. They have a bunch of great ankle flexibility/strengthening routines. I do a lot of his ankle/hip mobility before I workout.

I do some of those routines, and they are really helpful, I have to say. I would also like to recommend that you try some medicine for this purpose. There are some good things on Canada Drugs. I am sure that you will like those and find them very helpful, you will also find a lot of good info there, good luck!

Brock Sampson said:

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Look up Squat University. They have a bunch of great ankle flexibility/strengthening routines. I do a lot of his ankle/hip mobility before I workout.

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Is there more than the 3 blog posts about the ankle mobility? Fail the wall test miserably with my right leg. But then it is still really sore and a little swollen anyway.

Secondary question. How long do you wait from an incident to start that kind of exercise? At one point I bought and wore a boot for a few days and iirc that helped. But last time I went to the ortho about it, I swear he said keep moving it. Could be mixing injured areas though. Turned 50 this year.

You may have chronic scar tissue in the joint, or loose fragments of cartilage, but unless you have an actual ligamentous tear that never healed, you probably lack good proprioception of the ankle that is causing you to be likely to roll it again and again.

You need a good physical therapy program to relearn proprioception and strengthen the stabilizing muscles. The ortho probably wanted you out of the brace early because the brace provides too much stability to a joint and you loose proprioception and strenght. Wearing it for a few days, to a week, 2 max, is ok as long as there's swelling and significant pain. But after that you need to get out of the brace.

bigtruckguy3500 said:

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You may have chronic scar tissue in the joint, or loose fragments of cartilage, but unless you have an actual ligamentous tear that never healed, you probably lack good proprioception of the ankle that is causing you to be likely to roll it again and again.

You need a good physical therapy program to relearn proprioception and strengthen the stabilizing muscles. The ortho probably wanted you out of the brace early because the brace provides too much stability to a joint and you loose proprioception and strenght. Wearing it for a few days, to a week, 2 max, is ok as long as there's swelling and significant pain. But after that you need to get out of the brace.

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That makes sense. I try to wear the brace mainly when I will be walking around uneven areas. But not all the time. Of course, then I roll it at the time I least expect.

I know of a great pt place. Will look at getting in to see them in the new year.

Get to the PT you mentioned. Work on mobility to improve tightness in addition to stability exercises to help the area.