As I'm sure some of you remember, on Saturday, June 23, 2012, I sprained my left ankle pretty badly, and it took about a month for it to completely heal. About a month ago, I managed to injure my left ankle again ironically. The reason is the same: jumping. However, the only difference is that I don't think I landed on it wrong or anything this time. I think either I did land on it wrong, just nowhere near as bad as last time, or it just got sore. It's now been a month, and it's still bothering me. So as my title asks, is it possible that the bad sprain I got weakened my ankle and it's why I injured it again (more easily?) about a month ago? Overall, it's not as bad. It only hurts when I turn my foot, and I don't need the ace bandage this time.
Admittedly, I was never great at anatomy, but as far as I know, a sprain affects the muscle, not the bone. But yeah, the muscles do weaken somewhat, partly due to strain, partly due to aging. I've sprained my left ankle at least half a dozen times, and my right one only once, and healing does take longer now than it did when I was 14. It should still heal fine, just remember to ice it and keep it elevated when it bothers you, that should quicken the healing process.
Thank you. As already stated, it's nowhere near as bad as last time. It only "hurts," so to speak, when I move it just right, such as bending it. I don't need an ace bandage this time, either, and can walk around just fine. The problem is that, because it's nowhere near as bad as last time, I'm still jumping around on it, and my mom is saying that it's prolonging the healing. However, I'm not too sure why, exactly. Even if I'm jumping on it, it should still be healing.
Continuing to put pressure on a hurt muscle or bone will affect the healing process. That's why they put you in a cast and give you crutches when you break your leg--the cast ensures that the bone heals in place, and the crutches keep your weight off the leg/foot. You should avoid putting excessive pressure on your ankle until it heals.
I'm going to have to do that if I want it to heal soon. I've caught myself a few times lately and told myself, "Don't jump!" I just happen to be a person with a lot of energy, especially because I never get out and run around a track or something to get rid of it. Although when I do run, even if it's just a block, my legs get all sore because I do too much -- I go from never getting exercise to every now and then running long distances. :x
Well that's precisely why you're getting sore. You have to start slow and part of that is dealing with soreness (I know, I recently started running). You seem to be getting hurt from jumping around so why not try taking up running? It's easy and basically free to do, and it's great exercise. The most important thing is to start out slow. That's not to say don't push yourself, but don't think you're going to be running 10 miles within a couple of days. Set small goals for yourself and work up to bigger & better things. Establish a route you know the distance of (if you have to, google maps the distance between your house and x location--try to find a place that you can run to & then back and have it come out to a mile). You can also use sites like Map My Run. Get a stopwatch or something with stopwatch functionality as well, if you want. I have the Nike+ app for my phone which tracks how far I've run and how long it's taken, but you don't need a smart device (or really any device) to just plain run. Start with a mile and when you're feeling more comfortable with that, move up to 1.5 miles, then to 2, and so on. My first goal was to run a mile in under 10 minutes. After that, I want to be able to run a full mile without having to stop to walk. Take it slow, don't be afraid to stop and walk for a while. Don't sprint, do a light jog. You're going to be sore, that's how exercise works really. If you stretch & warm up beforehand, then cool down & stretch afterwards, you can minimize it, as well as by taking things slow as I've said. The soreness will still be there but it's liveable, and as your muscles develop and you become a better runner, it'll be negligible.
Thank you. Yeah, I know that at my age, jumping around like a kid (we never lose our kid spirit, eh?) would probably be looked at as immature by a lot of people, but it's basically my exercise since I don't get out and run. Just jumping around in the house doesn't actually make my legs sore, it's when I get out and run about two blocks, after not having run in forever, that my legs are sore the following day. A few months ago, I started taking my dog on walks / runs again -- which, sadly, stopped soon after because I took off her collar during one of her baths, and we haven't been able to find it since -- and after a block and a half of running non-stop I was already tired, but I pushed myself to run a bit further, which was usually another block or block and a half, until I just couldn't anymore and I had to walk (so much that my throat was really dry). I have a bit of a tummy, but I'm not fat, just out of shape. My mom originally started saying that, which I agree with.
Of course, yeah. I'm not saying you're a fattie or that you need to worry about losing weight, but everyone should exercise in some way. Running is a really easy exercise imo because it's virtually free and easy to do (no gyms or equipment needed, besides sneakers, which most people already have). You could try push ups, sit ups, all of that as well. Jumping just seems like you're hurting yourself.
Oh, I never said you called me anything. Sorry if I somehow implied that. Anyway, I forgot to mention that there are tracks at the middle and high schools I used to go to that I can run around on when school isn't in session. Also, to be honest, if I've been jumping around on a daily basis and this injury and the really bad one back in 2012 have been my only injuries so far, that's not too bad at all. :)
God, I just can't seem to stay from away from injuring myself. I've been not jumping on my injured left foot / ankle, and it's still sore; yesterday or the day before I managed to injure my right leg above the kneecap, but on the back of the leg, because I've been jumping on one foot so I could still jump around. I'm hoping the leg is just a pulled muscle.
Went to the doctor today, and it's not anything serious (I just wanted to make sure). Basically, your bones can't be weakened, but past injuries can weaken your tendons and / or ligaments, Two analogies the doctor gave me were a rubber band and a balloon, but I'll just give an example with the balloon. The first time you blow it up, it's kind of hard. When it goes back to its normal state and you blow it up again, it's easier because it's been stretched. It's the same case with tendons and ligaments and she said that's why some people say they've sprained something and then all of a sudden start getting sprains more frequent. In my case, I sprained my left ankle pretty badly on June 23, 2012 and it took about a month for it to completely heal. A little more than half of that time it was wrapped in an ace bandage because it was the only way I could walk -- at least without it hurting -- and I did no jumping whatsoever for that month it took to heal. This time my injury, to the same ankle, wasn't quite as bad, but it's been a few months and it's still bothering me, and that's because I weakened my tendons and / or ligament the last time I injured it, so it's taking longer to heal. However, because it wasn't so bad this time, I'm still able to jump around, so I think that's also part of the reason why it's taking so long, not just because my tendons and / or ligaments are weakened. I probably would have continued jumping around when I really injured it last time about week after I injured it, but because of how bad it was, it just kept me from jumping -- like, I lost my drive to jump and wanted to wait for it to completely heal before jumping again. However, this time because it's not as bad, there's nothing really keeping me from jumping.. @Misty: You're the main one that replied here, so I thought I'd see what you think of the above. :)
