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dot_txt

Those of you who have broken an ankle..

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How long did it take you to recover, and did you eventually get to 100% range of movement? If so, how long did it take?

I broke mine mid-june (turbulence + uneven ground is a bad combination). Had surgery to put it back together, and am now back in the air and jumping again after being cleared to do so. I have an "acceptable range of movement", but not what the other ankle has, and I still have some moderate pain from time to time. I know a lot of jumpers have had similar injuries, so I wanted to put the question out there to see what others experienced regarding recovery.

Cheers!

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dot txt......I'm going to apologize to you and anyone who reads this in advance (my posts tend to be too long).

I broke mine when I was a youngster working for Uncle Sam (high winds, bad spot, night). I was in great physical shape, a factor that has since been proven to promote quicker healing. So keep working on your physical conditioning, it will shorten recovery.

Back in the day, they would throw some plaster around you, and immobilize for a long period of time.......now with removable casts etc. you are working the injury (range of movement almost right away). I tweaked that same ankle in a mountain bike crash (damn clip less, still use them?).The Doc gave me a stretchy material (like a large rubber band) that I used as part of my morning routine. You can hook it around the legs of non movable furniture and hook your ankle in the other end and pivot your ankle keeping heel against floor putting as much resistance in play as you want. Change angle after X amount of reps.

Also, as part of my morning deal (forever), is standing balancing on one foot lifting other knee as high as you feel comfortable and rotating ankle one direction than other, also straight up and down ten times than switch to other side. If your balance or ankle strength is not up to the task initially, grab a piece of furniture to stabilize yourself. The above mentioned ankle rotations could also be preformed many times a day from a sitting position if you have a desk job. An old martial arts mindset is to work your injury or weak side with twice as many reps as your strong side (you will have to work into this especially after an injury).

If you have access to water, swimming is a great way to bring your ankle back, especially if you throw on some big ass fins. Just remember initially (especially with fins), you ankle will fatigue quickly at first.....so parallel the shoreline so we don't read about you.

The above mentioned activities will get you beyond an "acceptable range of movement". Depending on the injury, you should be able to get back to 95-97 % in time. If you are younger.....one year and you should be rocking.

As far as pain, it will decrease with time. However, a tweak may show up from time to time and remind you of your past. As you age, if this happens more and more, you can get it "scoped" (to clean it up).... kind of like changing the oil.

I'm not a fan of "taping" an injury.

Happy healing.

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Hi

You really need to fill out your profile as completely as possible before some of us can discuss this with you.

Surgery to repair on your ankle, doesn't sound good.
What's your experience level, blaming your injury on turbulence and uneven ground sound like a excuse. So come clean how many jumps do you have. Are you ready to land a down winder.
Wing loading
Can you jump during the winter (location)
Desk job
Etc etc

I hesitate to give you any advice. Except what's the hurry, if you jump before your ready, you may be unknowingly favoring your injured leg on landing and you will be putting more weight on you good leg.

Bummer to break your good leg or injure your bad leg because you tried to get back in the saddle to soon. If your shopping for a answer that you want to hear, I'm sure you'll get plenty of responses and find some that you agree with.

Based on your incomplete profile any answer you get will be a WAG.

Have a happy:)R.

One Jump Wonder

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Krip



any answer you get will be a WAG.

Have a happy:)R.



Krip........I'm guilty of optimistic WAG-ing it on recovery response. The rest of the post was meant to be helpful, and from personal experience, which was asked for.

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You're only 4 months in. The bones might be fine but you did a lot of damage to the soft tissue as well. (There is pretty much always soft tissue damage when you break bones near a joint.) Soft tissue heals at its own pace. Keep working it- try a treadmill or ellyptical- but don't expect to be at 100% overnight. It takes months.

To be honest, I wasn't pain free or at full function untill ALL the hardware was removed 2 years later - I didn't even realize how limited I was until the hardware was gone. People have differing opinions on just how "permanent" those plates and screws are supposed to be, but for me, removing it all was the right choice.

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I don't frequent DZ.com, so my filling out my profile has never crossed my mind. But not to worry, I'm happy to share.

Down Winder: Yep, done it on my current canopy a few weeks before the break, no problem. Came in from a long spot and decided to downwind it to make it to the DZ. Winds were 5, gusting to 8 or 9 that day.

Wing Loading: 1.05 - 1.1, depending on how my weight fluctuates and how much I'm wearing (winter jumps = more weight). On the day of, it was about 1.05 under a Sabre 1 150.

Jumps: about 100 logged. Around 130 actual.

Winter Jumps: I live in the midwest, and love jumping out of a Cessna into some snow. Done it every year. Up until the injury I was never uncurrent in the 3 years holding a license without ever making a trip down south to a more 'comfortable' jumping climate.

Desk Job: Business Owner. On my feet all the time, unless it was 2 months ago, and then I was on crutches, all the time. This did not help with the recovery, but unfortunately was necessary.

Being ready to jump: My Doc cleared me to jump. He knows that's how I got the injury, and was honest about the fact that there will be pain for awhile, especially during impact activities. His estimate was somewhere between 3 months and the rest of my life. He used to skydive himself, so he knows whats involved with a landing. Surgery was recommended, but optional, so the break wasn't *that bad* (pics attached). I've done about 5 jumps after being cleared, and all have been fine. Running out the landings haven't been a problem either, and at phys therapy I routinely run a mile as a warm up. All in all, I feel quite ready to get back to the sky and my ankle is strong enough to take a bad landing if need be. Just wish I could point both sets of toes and not have one look like its being lazy.

Regarding my landings / injury. My landings have always been very good, and my canopy is super easy to pilot. The day of I was jumping at a new DZ, didn't think the high winds would cause so much turbulence in the landing area (or they picked up after takeoff, who knows), came in, and about 10 feet up I felt like I lost a lot of lift all of a sudden (down rotor maybe?). On account of that the flare was late (but there), and my ankle landed in a shallow hole bending it back and sideways. Other ankle made it out unscathed. So, it really was bad luck and not be being a dumbass (this time.. I'm not immune to dumbass-ary from time to time, albeit less now that I have a business/wife/child/etc).

I'm not really looking for should you jump or should you not jump. I'm more interested in: If you had a ankle break yourself, how long did it take you to get back to 100%?

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dot txt.....Your very welcome! Rotating your ankle will seem very stiff at first, almost like you can't do it, but with your mental and physical "can do" you will start to get small circles and they will grow larger over time.

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Recovery from the hardware removal was a piece of cake. Every situation is different but I felt relief instantly in spite of the soreness from the surgery. (I really had no idea how much it was bothering me until it was gone.) I had to stay off my feet for a day or two, and there were stitches to remove. I did it in the off season to give the bone a little time to heal, let the holes fill in....... That was just for the plate and screws on the fibula.

I had other screws taken out much earlier (2 meant to be temporary, two probably meant to be permanent.....) but that's a different story and I don't have cool xrays to attach ............

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JohnnyMarko

***Damn... Why are you being such an ass?



Agreed...this is in Bonfire, not S&T...

Since you all asked Muff brother . I have a official ass hole card.

Glad to see I have a fan club. :)

I'll pm the OP, to avoid the negative vibes and you all can figure it out for your selves.
I broke my ankle in 1970 jumping.

Have a nice day both of you:)
One Jump Wonder

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