High Ankle Sprain--how bad is it, and when can i ski again?

Hi all,

I'm at one week from hurting my ankle telemarking at the Heav. I caught my inside edge skiing some steep bumps and felt a pop in my ankle, then immediate severe pain. I was able to get my shit together and ski/sideslip/patroller turn my way down the rest of the run (Gunbarrel) and to the base. It hurt a lot initially, but the pain quickly subsided. There has been almost no swelling. I iced it a good bit the first couple of days.

I'm poor and uninsured, so naturally I refused treatment at the clinic. Based on my research online I've pretty much diagnosed it as a high ankle sprain. Much of what i've read is really scary--months of inactivity and potential arthritis later in life! Shit.

So here's my condition now, after 7 days: I can walk without a limp. Descending stairs is still not great. I tried running a little yesterday and it hurt moderately and i limped a bit, but i could sort of do it. I can flex my foot forward and backward and can stand on it with my full weight with no pain. Normal ankle rolling does not hurt at all (I can stand with nearly my full weight on the outside edge of my foot). It hurts like a BITCH when i try to externally rotate it, though. A couple of times in the last week (I haven't exactly been staying on the sofa) i've caught it wrongly and the pain has been quite bad, but it fades quickly and seems to keep improving. 2 days ago i skate skied (nordic) for about 90 minutes with almost no pain.

Have I allowed the internet prognositcators to freak me out, or is this really a pretty minor version of a high ankle sprain? Should i get serious about immobilizing it and just be patient, or should i allow the pain to be my guide and keep doing my normal shit as much as possible? I'm jonesing to get out and tele, naturally, but i could probably entertain myself with skate skiing for a few weeks if necessary.

Thanks in advance!

a high ankle sprain will take several weeks longer than a normal ankle sprain to heal. The things you describe, like external rotation and dorsiflexion during walking down stairs makes sense for that injury.

If you truly have a high ankle sprain it could take anywhere from 3-6 weeks for it to be feeling 100%. If you have to ski, think about alpine....almost like being in a cast...

But I would not run or skate ski, continue with ice for a week or so then if things improve you can move to warm soaks and active range of motion exercises.

Count on more 6 than the 3 Vin put up. Have had a high ankle sprain, and about 6 more after the first over 10 years or so.

Not fun.

Thanks for the replies. The ankle continues to get better--stairs are a bit less difficult now, and i can balance indefinitely on the hurt foot. I'm still icing and taking it easy.

I wonder if anyone has any suggestions for how i can determine when it would be safe to ski? I mean, right now i bet i can skin just fine, but obviously anything unexpected (like crashing) could be very painful. Since the literature seems to disagree about a lot regarding this injury and quoted recovery times vary so greatly (from 10 days to 6 months!), how can i know when to get back to my normal activities? Am i doing further damage by walking on it and generally trying to live a normal life?

Thanks in advance, again.

I have weak ankles and have sprained them several times throughout the years . . . most recent was November 2007 - due to illness in family, did not have a chance to ski until after the New Year - tried the following weekend and it took some time, skied with a friend and tried to keep up (not a good idea) - I'd suggest, if you have a pass, to go out yourself on easy terrain - something you know you can get down regardless. Then, move on up at your own pace. I still have a lump on the outside of my left ankle just above the protruding bone - it's probably scar tissue:( (vinman?) I started ROM exercises the day after the injury and still do several ankle exercises - still hurts at times:) . . . but, I ski every day;)

Shit i don't think I could jam my ankle into a ski boot for a month and a half.
Then that was only barely doable due to the boot holding everything straight.
God damn (blessed) Turkey makes really bad ideas seem really fucking smart at the time.

Good luck, speedy recovery!

I just tweaked my ankle pretty good 2 weeks ago. High sprain ,too...got my knee a hair which I didn't even know until it started healing and the muscles around it got really sore. My dad came into town so I got back on the snow before I should have. I've been skiing for a couple days now, but just doing every other day at the most for now. I went back on the hill a couple days before I should have, but took it a bit easy and worked my way up to a comfort level. That bone on the outside of my ankle gets pretty sore when I ski, but the boot provides enough support to be just fine. I'd say when your limp is gone give it a shot, that's about what I did and I was fine. It seems like it will be at least 2 more weeks for me before everything is basically normal. Sounds like you might need 2 weeks off before hitting the snow again.

Sorry for the bump on a old thread but...

I'm 5 weeks in to healing a high ankle sprain. No limp but still alot of pain and burning with external rotation and weight bearing on the ball of my foot or going down stairs.

Has anyone ever used compression ski socks with any positive results? I can ski but it's touch and go so I don't want to hurt it again if it can be avoided.

the wife had a "high ankle sprain" she thought, then got an xray and had a broken fibula down low instead.

Ya, I thought I broke my leg too judging by the sound it made but I got Xrays and it's all good. I can walk without a limp and ski about 80 percent. I am just looking for some additional support until I feel 100 percent.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by climberevan

Hi all,

I'm at one week from hurting my ankle telemarking at the Heav. I caught my inside edge skiing some steep bumps and felt a pop in my ankle, then immediate severe pain. I was able to get my shit together and ski/sideslip/patroller turn my way down the rest of the run (Gunbarrel) and to the base. It hurt a lot initially, but the pain quickly subsided. There has been almost no swelling. I iced it a good bit the first couple of days.

I'm poor and uninsured, so naturally I refused treatment at the clinic. Based on my research online I've pretty much diagnosed it as a high ankle sprain. Much of what i've read is really scary--months of inactivity and potential arthritis later in life! Shit.

So here's my condition now, after 7 days: I can walk without a limp. Descending stairs is still not great. I tried running a little yesterday and it hurt moderately and i limped a bit, but i could sort of do it. I can flex my foot forward and backward and can stand on it with my full weight with no pain. Normal ankle rolling does not hurt at all (I can stand with nearly my full weight on the outside edge of my foot). It hurts like a BITCH when i try to externally rotate it, though. A couple of times in the last week (I haven't exactly been staying on the sofa) i've caught it wrongly and the pain has been quite bad, but it fades quickly and seems to keep improving. 2 days ago i skate skied (nordic) for about 90 minutes with almost no pain.

Have I allowed the internet prognositcators to freak me out, or is this really a pretty minor version of a high ankle sprain? Should i get serious about immobilizing it and just be patient, or should i allow the pain to be my guide and keep doing my normal shit as much as possible? I'm jonesing to get out and tele, naturally, but i could probably entertain myself with skate skiing for a few weeks if necessary.

Thanks in advance!

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Hey climberevan -

Found this ancient thread via a google search of "caught edge telemark skiing ankle sprain". Cannot believe how exact you describe my injury. Like your original post from 11 years ago, about a week ago I was telemarking at Heavenly (on one of the runs parallel to gunbarrel) and I caught my inside edge at speed. Didn't hear a pop though, it hurt terribly and I limped like 50 yards to my car. I have been icing it and can now walk pretty normally, though descending stairs is rough still.

I taped it up and went to Kirkwood today; it was feeling good but weak, I was cautious but still able to ski slowly and tele turn through steep cementy chop. Ankle wasn't painful but felt weak so I took it easy. Walking back to the car, I bozo slipped on ice and externally rotated my bad ankle - hurt almost as bad as when it happened, and it's a bit stiff now but not too much worse than before skiing today.

Anyways - I'm wondering how long it took you or DudeLebowSKI to heal back to near-normal, and please let me know if there are any PT stretches or other tips you found helpful. All I've been doing is ibuprofen and daily icing, am itching to ski hard asap but after today will be more cautious. Thanks!

research suggests that initial administration of ibu can slow tendon and ligament healing.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23982408/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mile

Hey climberevan -

Found this ancient thread via a google search of "caught edge telemark skiing ankle sprain". Cannot believe how exact you describe my injury. Like your original post from 11 years ago, about a week ago I was telemarking at Heavenly (on one of the runs parallel to gunbarrel) and I caught my inside edge at speed. Didn't hear a pop though, it hurt terribly and I limped like 50 yards to my car. I have been icing it and can now walk pretty normally, though descending stairs is rough still.

I taped it up and went to Kirkwood today; it was feeling good but weak, I was cautious but still able to ski slowly and tele turn through steep cementy chop. Ankle wasn't painful but felt weak so I took it easy. Walking back to the car, I bozo slipped on ice and externally rotated my bad ankle - hurt almost as bad as when it happened, and it's a bit stiff now but not too much worse than before skiing today.

Anyways - I'm wondering how long it took you or DudeLebowSKI to heal back to near-normal, and please let me know if there are any PT stretches or other tips you found helpful. All I've been doing is ibuprofen and daily icing, am itching to ski hard asap but after today will be more cautious. Thanks!

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Wow.. Blast from the past. Honestly I can't remember when I was totally fine again back in 2010, but I definitely skied a lot more that year, so it must have been some weeks at most. That was also the year that I fully switched to Alpine for touring. I think I started using my touring gear at the resort too, but I telemarked the following season for sure.

In retrospect, now that I've been through an ACL reconstruction and subsequent meniscus trim since then, the ankle thing hardly rates in my injury memory. I def have zero lingering issues now.

Good luck! It will get better.

Fix the heel, fix the problem.


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Don’t ice, don’t take ibuprofen or aspirin. Makes it feel better but slows down healing. Stay off it but move it a little during the day to gain mobility.

Source: newest scientific research and more sprained ankles than I can remember playing hoop.


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I've been holding this mind set, for about 5 years,after i read the Australian studies. I experience quicker,and more through recoverys. In the past, I would often- over ice.

Thanks all for the insight and advice. 2.5 weeks since the injury, ankle is still quite weak with some minor aches and pain if over used, but is slowly improving. I iced and ibuprofened for a few days at first but per y’all’s guidance i’m now just taking it easy and doing stretches, some light cross country skiing. If it’s not too much better in a few more weeks i’ll get it professionally checked.

Cheers