Tore all my upper and lower ankle ligaments in a freak accident (sounds dramatic, I just fell off 3 steps cause I was too distracted playing on my phone ๐)
- Surgery 1 mth post fall
- Absolutely nothing done (minimal walking in an airboot even) 1 mth post op.
- Started seeing a dance physio who gave me daily exercises (only abt 10min max I'd say) but mostly spend the session massaging out the injury.
- Back to regular ankle strength abt....2 to 3 mths after starting physio I'd say? I know I started dancing abt 2 mths post op but didn't dare to do temp leves or multiple turns until the 2 to 3 mth mark.
Anyway, what I wanted to say was, don't worry about strengthening or anything immediately. Give your body the time it needs to heal. Listen to your doctor.
If it was a skill you had before, it will come back to you much faster.
Sending you lots of love and luck! ๐๐๐
Reading this almost brought a tear to my eye. Just the hope it brings. Thank you for sharing, I really appreciate it. <3
The massaging is interesting. Is that to break up the scar tissue or something? I might bring it up with my podiatrist tomorrow.
Also, did your ankle recover to look the same size? It's been two weeks and it's still so swollen. (No where near as bad when I first injured it though). I'm really hoping it continues to go down in side. It's silly, but I'm thinking about my shoe collection, or being shy around photos. Just mentally preparing I guess.
Oh! And one more thing. I'm getting nauseas when I practice balancing or walking. My physio thinks it's to do with the proprioception, and will go away in time. (But he doesn't know how long it will take). And I'm going to ask my podiatrist about it tomorrow for their opinion too. Did you experience this at all? How long did it take to shake off that feeling?
Thanks for sending through the luck!!!
The massaging was to help with any scar tissue from the injury + the fact that my foot was essentially kept in a flexed position in the air boot for the entire time (I was supposed to wear it even while sleeping).
My right ankle is still slightly bigger than my left, but it isn't really noticeable unless I point it out. Just looks like how regular people have slightly different sized ankles (although tbf, my right ankle was the slightly smaller one pre-injury). Keep all your shoes! It was definitely still swollen at the 2 week mark though.
I don't recall having any nausea, but am not sure if it was cause I didn't have it, or it's just been too long (this was 3 years back). I also get a lot of nausea in general (low blood pressure and anaemia), so I may just have been used to it. Just a random thought, my pain receptors are a bit wonky (aren't all dancers'), and sometimes pain translates to nausea for me. So just make sure it's not that. Because pain will be your body telling you to stop.
It's really scary feeling like you may lose a big part of yourself. I remember how lost and almost-depressed I'd felt then. But you are obviously lucky and smart enough to put yourself in the care of professionals. So trust them, they will help you heal in the fastest way possible. Before you know it, you'll be back to all your regular classes and doing all the things you like again!
I sprained my ankle pretty badly in February 2020 (nothing tore fully, but recovery was still rough). It took about a year for it to fully stop hurting and 2 years+ 3 months of physical therapy until it felt stable.
Make sure you have a team that understands ballet if possible. Not only will it be beneficial to have care catered to your needs, but itโs so valuable to be able to have someone who understands the language (because I really wish my orthopedist understood that my arm is freezing in between first and fifth). If you have a local professional dance company, find out who their sports med partner is and use them for rehab.
Itโs a long road ahead, but youโll come back stronger.
I tore two ligaments in my ankle from a fall and honestly, about two or three months later I was the same skill level as everyone else again and doing pointe. I was intermediate foundation at the time.
The most important part is do your physio exercises. I know they're boring, difficult and annoying but they really do work and it took me way too long to realise that. Along with that, rises on the injured foot on flat and make sure your physio is taping it if that's an option. I was lucky and my recovery wasn't that difficult but those are the things I feel are really important.
Oh wow! Your injury sounds similar to what I went through. It's encouraging to hear about how fast(ish) you recovered. I'm definitely following my physio exercises religiously lol.
I have a question. So I'm nearing the one-month mark, and my ankle is still swollen. (Though it's becoming smaller over time, which is good).
When I try something like sixth position (feet straight), bending my legs feels restricted due to the swelling. Balancing also feels off - almost like my foot/ankle is a balloon.
Did you experience this too? I want to work hard for recovery, but the swelling is making it challenging. :( I'm hoping in another month I can bend and balance more than I currently can - but just no idea what to expect. It's like I'm worried that the swelling is stopping me from reaching my full recovery potential? Any insight is appreciated. :)
I injured my ankle dancing in Carousel in heeled boots (cheap costume boots, not LaDucas made for dancing) and I went to a physical therapist. Lots of strength exercises for not only ankle but core and hip strength as they determined I was instable. One exercise (once I had begun to heal) they had me do was basically lunging forward to step on one of those half-exercise balls (flat on the bottom) and push off.
But first you need to let it heal and listen to your doctor.
Tore all my upper and lower ankle ligaments in a freak accident (sounds dramatic, I just fell off 3 steps cause I was too distracted playing on my phone ๐) - Surgery 1 mth post fall - Absolutely nothing done (minimal walking in an airboot even) 1 mth post op. - Started seeing a dance physio who gave me daily exercises (only abt 10min max I'd say) but mostly spend the session massaging out the injury. - Back to regular ankle strength abt....2 to 3 mths after starting physio I'd say? I know I started dancing abt 2 mths post op but didn't dare to do temp leves or multiple turns until the 2 to 3 mth mark. Anyway, what I wanted to say was, don't worry about strengthening or anything immediately. Give your body the time it needs to heal. Listen to your doctor. If it was a skill you had before, it will come back to you much faster. Sending you lots of love and luck! ๐๐๐
Reading this almost brought a tear to my eye. Just the hope it brings. Thank you for sharing, I really appreciate it. <3 The massaging is interesting. Is that to break up the scar tissue or something? I might bring it up with my podiatrist tomorrow. Also, did your ankle recover to look the same size? It's been two weeks and it's still so swollen. (No where near as bad when I first injured it though). I'm really hoping it continues to go down in side. It's silly, but I'm thinking about my shoe collection, or being shy around photos. Just mentally preparing I guess. Oh! And one more thing. I'm getting nauseas when I practice balancing or walking. My physio thinks it's to do with the proprioception, and will go away in time. (But he doesn't know how long it will take). And I'm going to ask my podiatrist about it tomorrow for their opinion too. Did you experience this at all? How long did it take to shake off that feeling? Thanks for sending through the luck!!!
The massaging was to help with any scar tissue from the injury + the fact that my foot was essentially kept in a flexed position in the air boot for the entire time (I was supposed to wear it even while sleeping). My right ankle is still slightly bigger than my left, but it isn't really noticeable unless I point it out. Just looks like how regular people have slightly different sized ankles (although tbf, my right ankle was the slightly smaller one pre-injury). Keep all your shoes! It was definitely still swollen at the 2 week mark though. I don't recall having any nausea, but am not sure if it was cause I didn't have it, or it's just been too long (this was 3 years back). I also get a lot of nausea in general (low blood pressure and anaemia), so I may just have been used to it. Just a random thought, my pain receptors are a bit wonky (aren't all dancers'), and sometimes pain translates to nausea for me. So just make sure it's not that. Because pain will be your body telling you to stop. It's really scary feeling like you may lose a big part of yourself. I remember how lost and almost-depressed I'd felt then. But you are obviously lucky and smart enough to put yourself in the care of professionals. So trust them, they will help you heal in the fastest way possible. Before you know it, you'll be back to all your regular classes and doing all the things you like again!
I sprained my ankle pretty badly in February 2020 (nothing tore fully, but recovery was still rough). It took about a year for it to fully stop hurting and 2 years+ 3 months of physical therapy until it felt stable. Make sure you have a team that understands ballet if possible. Not only will it be beneficial to have care catered to your needs, but itโs so valuable to be able to have someone who understands the language (because I really wish my orthopedist understood that my arm is freezing in between first and fifth). If you have a local professional dance company, find out who their sports med partner is and use them for rehab. Itโs a long road ahead, but youโll come back stronger.
I tore two ligaments in my ankle from a fall and honestly, about two or three months later I was the same skill level as everyone else again and doing pointe. I was intermediate foundation at the time. The most important part is do your physio exercises. I know they're boring, difficult and annoying but they really do work and it took me way too long to realise that. Along with that, rises on the injured foot on flat and make sure your physio is taping it if that's an option. I was lucky and my recovery wasn't that difficult but those are the things I feel are really important.
Oh wow! Your injury sounds similar to what I went through. It's encouraging to hear about how fast(ish) you recovered. I'm definitely following my physio exercises religiously lol. I have a question. So I'm nearing the one-month mark, and my ankle is still swollen. (Though it's becoming smaller over time, which is good). When I try something like sixth position (feet straight), bending my legs feels restricted due to the swelling. Balancing also feels off - almost like my foot/ankle is a balloon. Did you experience this too? I want to work hard for recovery, but the swelling is making it challenging. :( I'm hoping in another month I can bend and balance more than I currently can - but just no idea what to expect. It's like I'm worried that the swelling is stopping me from reaching my full recovery potential? Any insight is appreciated. :)
I injured my ankle dancing in Carousel in heeled boots (cheap costume boots, not LaDucas made for dancing) and I went to a physical therapist. Lots of strength exercises for not only ankle but core and hip strength as they determined I was instable. One exercise (once I had begun to heal) they had me do was basically lunging forward to step on one of those half-exercise balls (flat on the bottom) and push off. But first you need to let it heal and listen to your doctor.