Printable View
I finally got to go on my first ride after breaking my ankle Labor Day weekend. It was the best! I decided to ride my mountain bike because of its stability. I chose a super easy, dirt trail with nothing technical, no hills, and long lines of sight to reduce the chances that I would have to come off of the bike in a hurry.
It was a great ride for rehabilitating my ankle and did wonders for my mental state! Can't wait to go again:D
Glad to hear you're back on the bike and that your ride went well!
Great news!!:D
Great news! Hope your recovery continues to go so well. :)
Congratulations, that is great news!
Woot! Welcome back. :)
welcome back! don't be in too much of a hurry and enJOY the freedom.
Brave! Was it at all scary? (still not brave nor released to ride yet) tokie
Yay!! I just rode outside last week for the first time since breaking my foot, so I appreciate how you are feeling. With me, the pedaling was fine, it was the taking off and stopping that were more of an issue.
It was more determination than bravery for me:) And yes, it was a little scary at first. I think the key to my successful, first ride was in the preparation. Again, I chose the mtb for stability, used platform pedals, Keen commuter sandles (because my foot is more painful than my ankle at this point), chose a very easy, lightly used trail, and practiced stopping at slow speed before I ever planted my rear end on the saddle.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tokie
Mounting and dismounting the bike are the hardest part for me since I broke the ankle that normally stays planted on the ground while I throw my good leg over the saddle. Just like Grits, the pedaling part is fine...actually pedaling is great.
I had an unexpected opportunity to ride a second time yesterday afternoon. My confidence increased considerably between my first and second rides. I even found that I was capable of riding in the neutral position for awhile on this very smooth trail. I won't try anything technical for quite awhile, though.
Good going, Grits! As anyone who has experienced a broken bone in a weight bearing joint knows, this is an all-consuming injury for at least a couple of months. Crutches s*ck! I'd rather do a downhill switchback on my mtb than negotiate stairs with crutches! Doesn't it feel good to get back to a "normal" part of our lives again - like riding?!
Tokie, you're far enough along that I'll bet your surgeon will release you for riding soon. If you broke the ankle on the leg that you normally put down on the bike, you might want to practice mounting and dismounting before you ride outdoors. Also, see if you can plan your first rides on a lightly used, paved trail to avoid traffic, stop signs, children, and loose dogs if possible. I think that the more conditions you can control on your first few rides, the more confident and successful you'll be.
Awesome!! One of my closest riding buddies did the same thing you did this weekend. :( I am hoping she will heal as rapidly and successfully.
Keep taking the baby steps, glad you're back to enjoy the beautiful new bike!
Yes! I practiced in the parking lot for a while before taking off. It took a while to get the nerve to push off with the injured foot. I have found that it is really a liability to be so "right footed" (or is it left footed?). I plant my left foot and throw my right leg over, but then, I HAVE to have my left foot on the pedal and push off with my right foot (hence the problem. the right foot is the injured one). I also HAVE to stop with my left foot on the pedal and the right foot going to the ground. I actually tried to start the opposite way one day, but just couldn't bring myself to do it. I think part of it is that I don't trust the injured foot enough to try anything different. And the other part is I'm such a creature of habit.Quote:
Originally Posted by Artista
One of the PT exercises I'm doing is to stand up on my toes, which hurts. I'm supposed to do it with all my weight on the injured foot, but the PT said if it hurt too much (and it does) to start out with the weight on both feet. When I can do that without pain, then the pushing off should not be painful anymore.
Do you still have much swelling? I sure do. I have my shoe laces pulled out to the point there isn't enough string to tie. I just have to put a little knot in it.
Oh, Aggie, I feel for your friend. I'll send you a pm about her.
Grits, yes, I still have a lot of swelling in my ankle. My foot was also really, really swollen for about a month following surgery. My ankle swelling would go down after sleeping each night but my foot always looked like a little balloon. I finally became concerned enough that I talked with my general practitioner about it. He said that he thought that the fluid was "trapped" in my foot and couldn't travel around the 90 degree angle and through the small amount of tissue in my ankle to dissipate. I got the bright idea to gently massage my foot from my toes, down my foot, and up around my ankle to help the fluid move out. I massaged it morning and evening and managed to get rid of most of the foot swelling within 48 hours. I would imagine that you would have a tough time keeping your foot swelling under control since your broken bone is IN your foot, but gentle massage might help keep the fluid from getting "trapped".
Another secret that I discovered is ice baths. I soak my foot and ankle in a bucket of cold water for 15 - 20 minutes at a time. I start out with cold, tap water and add ice as I can tolerate it. The soaking is far more thorough than simply icing.
I find it interesting that you push off with one foot while beginning to pedal with the other. I just step on the pedal while lifting myself onto the saddle...there's no pushing off for me. Fortunately, the foot that I begin to pedal with is not on my injured side. That means that my broken ankle doesn't even come into play until the bike has begun to roll. Still, the broken ankle gives me a twinge if I start in too hard of a gear or on a slight incline. Anyway, do you think that you could get your bike started by simply stepping on the pedal with your good foot and not push off with the broken one?
One of my goals after I get really stable on my bike again is to become ambidextrous;)
I want to be ambidextrous too! I am having to learn to take off without pushing off with my right foot. I think I learned to start that way to protect my left knee, which gives me problems off and on. (Sucks getting old, but beats the alternative.)
Good suggestion about the massage. I've done ice packs, but the bath would be more effective.
I've been surprised about what doctors don't tell you during this process. I feel compelled now to tell anyone with a non-weight bearing lower limb injury about the knee scooter (had to find that on my own, and what a huge difference that made), how much easier it is to shower with a shower chair (duh.), and for goodness sakes, how to get up and down steps on crutches. That would certainly have been useful to know from day one. A friend finally told me the mantra "up with the good (leg) and down with the bad." Most useful thing anyone told me.
Glad you are healing so well and back on the bike! Thanks for your suggestions.
Don't even get me started about how frustrated I am by the few instructions I received. I can almost forgive them for not telling about the scooter but they left out vital care and warning info following my repair surgery, too. My biggest frustration, though, is with the orthopedist's response when I asked him about physical therapy while I was in the boot. He told me that PT would be worthless until I could put weight on my ankle. Now I'm finding out how wrong he was. At least 50% of the problems I'm currently working to overcome have nothing to do with my ankle but everything to do with being non weight bearing for so long. Most of these problems could have been avoided had I participated in PT as soon as I got into the boot. My doctor was way too willing to unnecessarily sacrifice the rest of my body for the sake of healing one small part. I can't wait to get this ankle fully healed and disengage from our conventional medical system again.Quote:
Originally Posted by Grits
So sorry to hear that you had to go through all this, Artista, but glad to hear you are back on the bike and on the road to full recovery.
Thanks for the positive comments everyone. The bottom line is that the human body is a thing of wonder. Today is my 2 month anniversary of my ankle break. I couldn't even step onto my bathroom scale and was still scooting up the stairs on my rear-end when I got out of the boot 2 1/2 weeks ago. Today I can walk across a room without a limp, (but not much further without a limp...yet:)), walk up stairs normally without holding onto the handrail, and ride my bike for an hour at a time. Here's to the amazing, self healing, human body!