Sprained ankles, etc?

Pain is y our friend here… if you DO NOT have pain you’re generally good. If you have MILD pain you should talk to the doc because sometimes a sprain benefits from mild exercise.

I once jammed my finger and it took a month to heal.  Was completely locked up and couldn’t move it.  Doc told me to take the splint off and stat working with it.  Within 2 hours it was completely fine.

But YMMV… if you’re in pain you might have to wait.

@ Justin, you do not say where on your ankle this sprain was. You do say you saw bruising and swelling so it is likely more than a mild sprain.

You might risk re-injury and making things worse for your trip in 90 days esp if you plan on carrying much weight on this shoulder season trip.

I sprained my ankle a few months ago in a climbing accident, though from the sound of it yours isn’t nearly as bad. I was using a crutch to get around for about a week, and didn’t do any hiking for about two months.

I went to a PT shortly after I sprained it, and he gave me some strengthening and balance exercises to do at home. He also gave me some common sense advice—when I can do the same number of exercises with my injured ankle as with my uninjured one, I’m good to start strenuous activities on it again.

Try balancing on each leg in turn. Notice a difference? If you’re OK there, try doing squats while balancing on one leg. Count how many you can do with your uninjured leg, then try to match that with the injured one. If it’s a significant difference, I’d give it more time to heal.

One more piece of advice from my PT: if there’s still swelling, get a compression brace. It’ll keep the swelling down and speed up the healing process.

I badly sprained my ankle on a father-daughter backpacking trip last summer (playing flashlight tag).  Fortunately, my doctor was along.  He grimaced almost as much as I was grimacing when I told him I was hoping to hike the iconic Chilkoot Trail in 13 days.  He really focused on the 13 (versus 14 days).  Could I delay the trip a day or two?  For a guy who is so flexible in his own life and in most aspects of medicine, it surprised me how focused he was on not stressing it for 2 FULL weeks.

I got a walking brace (only works on smooth surfaces) and a splint that minimized side-to-side motion but could fit in my low-cut hiking shoes.  I was good about keeping it up, keeping ice on it for first 2 days (easy on a partially snow-camping trip), and being really careful to not restrain the joint.  Driving 800 miles to the trailhead, I’d even prop one foot on the dash and work the brake/gas with the other foot.

It was striking how, on the 13th day, it felt noticeably better than on the 12th.  And on the 14th, it felt far better.  I remained vigilant about not over-rotating it and staying off it as much as I could (two young girls along meant my wife and son took more weight).

I’m 54.  Many things – sutures, a mild cold, cuts – take longer to heal then they did 30 years ago.  I was surprised by how consistent the 14-day window was.

The only other time I sprained an ankle, 30 years ago, I got back on it as soon as it felt a little better.  And it took many weeks to heal.  From that I learned that following ALL the instructions and being very careful early on, got me back on the trail much sooner.  Baby it more than you think you need to.  Baby it for longer than you imagine you should.

I’ve had dozens of sprained ankles and they’re all different. With most of mine, two weeks would be plenty of time before doing a hike, though I’d be extra careful on the hike. But some of them, especially the “high” sprains, can take a LOT longer. My guides are (1) pain level and (2) strength. If I can’t bounce on the foot like a boxer jumping rope, it ain’t ready.

I was a very competitive soccer player and had my share of ankle injuries. As has been mentioned, biggest risk is reinjury. Your ankle might feel better but likely isn’t as stable. Simple strengthening and stability exercises are very helpful for both ankles. You might even consider a light preventative taping of the ankle during the upcoming hike. Never do a preventative tape without also performing regular strengthening and stability exercises else you weaken the ankle and make things worse.

I agree with the sentiment that pain is your guide.  No pain – you’re fine.  Discomfort?  That’s fine, too.  Actual pain?  Not fine.

I have a couple of blog posts about ankles on my blog BackpackerPT for you to check out.

I also highly recommend this brace if you feel like you need one for the trip.  It’s the one I wore on my trip through the Gila Wilderness 2 weeks after I fractured my own ankle (yeah, don’t do that by the way).

Ankle sprains, even with lots of swelling and bruising, can still be quite minor (or quite major…).  The best thing you can do, honestly, is to keep moving it.  Even really, really bad sprains we brace during activity but then have you do lots of range of motion type exercises immediately.

So after all that – only you can really answer your question about hiking.  The brace is relatively inexpensive and you certainly will not hurt yourself by using it – and it’s a really good one (it’s the one I recommend to my patients).  If, however, you have no pain – then don’t brace it and go for your walk.  Be careful with your foot placement, use hiking poles (even if you don’t normally) for extra balance help, and good luck.

Feel free to email me if you need anything else jenmitol AT gmail DOT com.

Good luck!

Hi all,

I decided to err on the side of caution and not go on the hike this weekend. Mainly because i didn’t want to risk any re-injury since i have the CO trail hike coming up beginning of July.

I’m thinking of alternative ways to test this new clothing equipment (reticulated PU type foam) . The low where i live is suppose to be 22*F feel like temp (26 real temp).  Our water tank connected to a well, is below our house and not well insulated or warmed, so the water should get pretty cold (40-50 or so) by 7 am in the morn (during the coldest part of the day). the combo of which could induce hypothermia if one is soaked.  It will have to do, until next late fall.

Boy, i have a feeling my spouse is going to really enjoy spraying me with a hose tomorrow morning.

Anyways, thank you everyone for the replies, suggestions and general help.  Jen, i will take a look at those links and may get in touch at some point, thanks.

I’ve used the Aso brace that Jen recommends. Excellent brace. surprisingly,  I didn’t get blisters using it either. The Cal basketball teams, men’s and women’s, use this brace (when they have to!)