WAG anterior ankle impingement

[mommyof1]

Anyone have anecdata to share about recovery from anterior ankle impingement following a sprain? My kid will be booted for three weeks and then re-evaluated. She thinks she is going to get straight back to full workouts and compete a week later. I am skeptical.

 

[Aero]

Recently, one of my athletes dealt with this for a bit after coming back from a sprain, and ended up feeling 100% within a month’s time. The process I followed with her was to limit things that really hurt, focusing a lot on low impact skills and lots of uneven bars work. Vault was the last step for her before she was 100% back to normal training. I also discovered a special gymnastics specific taping application that I used for her every day that really helped because it limited dorsiflexion.

It’s not too bad of an injury and usually resolves fine, and can’t really be made worse unless she really overtrains on it. Of course she should still stay away from heavy impact work for now since her body will find ways to compensate for the pain, which will lead to negative changes in technique and could cause other injuries.

 

[l.c.o]

My DD just suffered from this (basically a bone bruise).

By the time my DD was seen, she was about a month into her injury. At that time, her sports med doc said to take it easy for ~3 more weeks. Limited hard landings, etc. Vault/tumble into pit/on tumbletrack, fewer reps/#s, etc. She was actually cleared to still compete while healing.

Within just a few days of light workouts, her swelling was visibly down. Over the 3 weeks, she increased her workload, and she was back to 100% before week 3 ended.

It’s hard to say, but the total healing process for her was probably a bit long as she hid the injury at first.

Of course this depends on level of injury. My DD did not also have a sprain to contend with - always had complete range of motion, etc. Only really had pain when replicating the original injury (basically with under rotating/landing short, and some residual pain for awhile afterward).

I had a bone bruise relatively recently myself, and my recovery was much longer - I was booted for ~6 weeks total, pain for much longer, but then I’d also suffered a lisfranc injury with partial ligament tear, so there’s that.

I say your DD’s healing will depend on the overall severity of her injury.

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

My DD just suffered from this (basically a bone bruise).

By the time my DD was seen, she was about a month into her injury. At that time, her sports med doc said to take it easy for ~3 more weeks. Limited hard landings, etc. Vault/tumble into pit/on tumbletrack, fewer reps/#s, etc. She was actually cleared to still compete while healing.

Within just a few days of light workouts, her swelling was visibly down. Over the 3 weeks, she increased her workload, and she was back to 100% before week 3 ended.

It’s hard to say, but the total healing process for her was probably a bit long as she hid the injury at first.

Of course this depends on level of injury. My DD did not also have a sprain to contend with - always had complete range of motion, etc. Only really had pain when replicating the original injury (basically with under rotating/landing short, and some residual pain for awhile afterward).

I had a bone bruise relatively recently myself, and my recovery was much longer - I was booted for ~6 weeks total, pain for much longer, but then I’d also suffered a lisfranc injury with partial ligament tear, so there’s that.

I say your DD’s healing will depend on the overall severity of her injury.

If it's just a bone bruise, severity will tell a lot. I got a bone bruise in both of the bones that form your knee (so the bowl and the circle thing) about 4 months ago. Was on 2 crutches for about 4 weeks, then one crutch for about 4 weeks. I still have pain and I sit out regularly for floor and vault.

About OP, her ankle is probably weaker after 3 weeks in a boot. Depending on the level of your DD, it could be very dangerous to tumble, flip etc. While her ankle might not hold up with all the landings. Good luck!

 

[Muddlethru]

Depends on the severity of the ankle sprain and ensuing ankle impingement and the level your daughter is in. However it is unlikely she can jump right in and be competition ready in a week regardless of level and severity of sprain. After an injury, the muscles, tendons, ligaments surrounding the injury need to be strengthened. If she has been in a boot for 3 weeks atrophy of the muscles would have already set in. You will need to rehabilitate the ankle or else its instability may lead to reinjury.

My daughter suffered a high ankle sprain in Dec 2014. If I recall correctly, she was in a boot for 4-6 weeks (?) and then PT. By March, she was competition ready for states (she's a Level 10 so getting skills back takes a bit longer than say compulsories or early optionals) but unfortunately the last practice before states, she partially dislocated her elbow. It was heartbreaking for her at the time. A few months after she returned, around August 2015, she had an anterior ankle impingement. She competed her first meet in Dec all taped up. But hen she had a bone bruise a few months later and then achilles tendonitis a few months later. All the while the pain in ankle never seized since the sprain. Two doctors recommended surgery since the ankle sprain rendered the ankle very unstable late 2015 or early 2016. We went with the third opinion and did not go through with the surgery. At 2017 regionals, she fractured her calcaneous bone and would have had to be in a boot. As such, we opted for the surgery because 1) she was already going to be in a boot. We thought recovery on the fracture and surgery could be timed together and 2) the ankle was never the same after the sprain and the pain never subsided. So we felt surgery would resolve this. Her practices were always modified and she was never really able to do numbers because of pain. After each of the injuries above, we went through the protocol of boot anytime between 2 weeks to 6 weeks, physical therapy.

We might have rushed physical therapy a bit. Additionally because she was already a Level 10 at the time, the drills and skills were pretty advanced even if you water it down. I would think giving her more time to heal would have certainly helped somehow but I don't know how much more time we needed to give her and because the tendons and ligaments were severely stretched from the sprain if it would have changed the outcome. The ankle was so loose, it looked like it was just flopping around; and of course my stubborn daughter would not tape or wear any kind of support (her coach also refused to have her use any kind of support because he felt it would only further weaken the ankle) My suggestion from all I experienced is to try not to rush recovery. So go through the required and necessary physical therapy. Strengthen the injured area as best you can. If she is only in the compulsory level, there is every reason to try to stay healthy. Mind you, after her surgery, she now ALWAYS wears her brace. The same brace I begged for her to wear three years ago. And by the way, after the surgery, the pain was still there. Still can't do numbers. But keep in mind, this is my daughter's experience. Hopefully, your daughter recovers completely. Good luck.

 

[mommyof1]

4theloveofsports, wow, your daughter has been through a lot! Thanks for sharing her experiences and for the warning about not rushing recovery. My daughter's coach is on board with taking plenty of time to recover and shifting the focus to next season. Unfortunately the kid is dead set on pushing hard to get back to competition this season, so it will really be up to Coach (or me if necessary) to put the brakes on once the boot comes off.

No bone bruise is involved with this particular injury. It is excess scar tissue from a minor sprain she suffered earlier in the season.