I have an ankle injury?

Question

I'm a cross country runner and have been training during the summer to get ready for the upcoming season. Last week, my ankle started hurting like it was bruised. At first I was running through it because it wasn't that bad so it was okay. Then, I had a weekend to let it rest. It was getting better & going away so I ran on it the following week. The first few days were okay but then starting yesterday, I actually felt the ankle pain throughout the run. I'm running usually seven miles a day, sometimes eight. I don't know what is wrong with my ankle.. I don't know if it's a sprain/strain.. The ankle is NOT swollen.. it's not red either. It's an inner ankle injury. I feel pain when I'm putting pressure on it. Well, I run hills.. and have to run up curbs (on the street) so I jump up them. Maybe too much of the jumping. I feel it when I'm about to take off...when my foot hits the ground and it has to lift back up. i don't know how to describe it.

So.. what is this ankle injury? Is it a sprain?

right now, i'm using R.I.C.E. ... well mostly just rest and ice. i don't use much compression.. and elevation sometimes at night. It feels okay to walk on the ankle but was a little stiff today. I'm giving it three more days of rest.

Answer 1

Go to either a bone doctor or a physiotherapist.

What's happening to you sounds similar to what I've got going on. It might be OCD (Osteochondritis Dissecans) of the talus. I don't quite remember what my symptoms were when I first developed it, but I've had it for roughly eight years now, and I've not yet had it go away.

The cartilage lining of the anklebone can be bruised when a sprain of the ankle occurs. As the anklebone (the talus) twists inside its box-like housing, the edge of the talus rubs up and hits the end of the tibia. This causes a bruise and leads to softening of the cartilage. It may lead to a small crack in the cartilage and a cyst forming in the talus bone. This we refer to as an osteochondral injury of the talus.

That's what the website says. For me right now, it's a pain just like having it bruised on my anklebone, and I jump a lot (goalie in soccer) so this is where I developed it from. It also affects me when I'm climbing stairs, running, etc., and what I do to treat it is ice it for fifteen minutes (always put the ice pack or whatever you're using in a towel or something, so it's not direct) and leave the ice off for fifteen, then ice on, ice off.. you get the picture.

My physiotherapist gave me excercises to do, such as using a balancing board and (if it's round) going around for twenty counts clockwise, twenty counterclockwise, or standing flat on your feet, then going up on your tippy toes or the front of your feet as high as you can, then going as far back on your heel as you can, and repeating. Another easier and more practical excercise is just when you're sitting around or something, to keep your leg stationary (but off the ground) and turn your ankle/foot outwards (if the injury feels on the outside) or the opposite if it's on the inside, for about two minutes or so.

Bottom line: get it checked out. Hope I've helped!

Answer 2

Whatever it is, if you keep running on it, it will more than likely get worse. Got to an MD. Get it fixed now before you need surgery.