Discussion: Syndesmosis - upper ankle - sprain

Sprained left ankle three months ago, surgery a week later to pin the tibia and fibula as the joint was unstable.

Anyhow recovery all good to date, weight bearing for five weeks now and support boot has been off for a week, physio treatment is now moving from manipulation of the joint to strengthening.

Starting swimming including kicking with the injured foot, very short distance.

Anyhow curious if other APers have experienced this injury and what was their rehabilitation experience.

At this stage I am taking the view that recovery is 12 months, 2013 will be a write off for broken ground, that view arises from the advise the physio provided that the joint foot may swell for the next 6 to 12 months and that along with being over weight and plus 50 years there are other things I should address as well.

The injury occurred whilst walking up hill across the slope, stepped up on my left foot, lifted my right foot, a rock under my left foot became unstable, felt my left go forward and backward followed by two loud cracks. Then I was on the ground in some discomfort my son, 11, thought I was trying to fool him.

Not the same injury but similar recovery time. Subtalar sprain + some ligament damage. Injury occurred in June 2011. 10 month recovery once I quit using it in Nov 2011. 6 weeks in a boot + PRP + extended physio. Started swimming in March 2012. Began running again in August. Still taping and soft brace or Active Ankles when I run now. About same age as you. Was glad I only gained 10 lbs.

Ok... I cheated a little and participated in a couple A-Meets this Spring, but walked for the most part.

Had a high ankle sprain several years ago which took close to 10-12 months recovery time. Even compared to an ankle fracture that I had subsequently, high ankle sprain was far worse. Hang in there!

Tough times ahead still. I would say 2-3 years to recover, but most of this would be in the first 15-18 months. I'm told all ankles are different, so don't compare. For me orienteering was the difference between the phyios expected 95% and 3 years on a full recovery for O purposes. If you look online, typically reseachers assess ankle recovery 2 to 3 years post op, which seemed bizarrely long at the time to me.

I fractured my fibula a few years ago, aged over 50. Fortunately it was horizontal, stable and low (I believe higher is more unstable) opposite the top of the ankle bone (talar) so no operation. Unfortunately my recovery kept stalling and six months later I had a MRI scan and an ankle debridement operation to remove scar tissue in the joint. During the op, it was discovered part of the cartilage had come away from the top corner of the talar. I was told to use an ankle brace, just to avoid further aggravating the cartilage if I sprained my ankle again. This has only happened once since and needless to say I wasn't wearing a brace.

I was surprised how well I recovered, after 9 months I thought I would only get back to 95%, after 15 months I'd say I was 99% and now I rarely think about it. Second year back was the best I've had for 20 years relatively. I realised how much I missed the sport and trained three times a week instead of two and even lost all the weight I'd put on since 35!

The ligaments are still a bit lax in places and mobility is an adequate 75% of the other ankle. I have a T2 Active Ankle, very comfortable, which I'll wear tomorrow, now I've been reminded.

I hope the recovery goes smoothly. I think you're wise to take it slowly, better to get the building blocks in place, you can start compensating if you hurry things as I found out. If for some reason things don't seem to be progressing as expected, I'd get a second opinion, it's unilkely to be through lack of doing physio as orienteers are a lot more motivated than Jo Average. Just seen you log, I thoroughly recommend anything in the pool including deep water running, it keeps the swelling down and its an excellent CV workout if you can keep at it for at least 6-8 sessions. Good luck.