Sprained ankle...how long before I can bike?

[KnottedYet]

Ask your doc when you can start riding again.

Use your pedal wrench (every woman should have one, and know how to use it!) to put platforms on your bike once you can start riding again, and use them until you have better lateral stability.

[zoom-zoom]

Ask your doc when you can start riding again.

Use your pedal wrench (every woman should have one, and know how to use it!) to put platforms on your bike once you can start riding again, and use them until you have better lateral stability.

Yep. Ask your doc, but I think I was off for a week or two, IIRC. Took me 5.5 weeks to get back to running--and that was very few miles, very slowly, rebuilding my weekly mileage very gradually. I think it's been about 12 weeks since my sprain. My ankle is still far from healed, but I think that's in large part to how poorly I treated my ankle in the first couple of days. Continuing to run nearly 10 miles on trails after the initial grade 2 sprain was not wise and if it happened again I would likely not continue. I still can't run at all on uneven surfaces (like grass or the gravel shoulder) without discomfort and my range-of-motion is pretty restricted compared to my other ankle.

[malkin]

Ok, for your entertainment while healing, and make you feel brave, active and athletic, I present the story of the worst ankle sprain of my life.

I was 19 years old. I was in general terms, fit; I could dash off 15-20 miles anytime I had the time and inclination.

On this occasion, I was standing in line at the bank.

I was holding a random stack of dollars and cents, waiting to have them swapped for krone and ore, as this was 1978 in Oslo at the university.

I had my legs stylishly wrapped around each other, and managed to get the worn out wooden part of my shoe sole in contact with the shiny slippery floor. My foot flew off one direction, my ankle another direction, and my cash scattered in all directions. I passed out.

I came to in the arms of another US student, a guy named Clyde from Florida, I think, as he was plopping me on the counter of the health center, which was conveniently located just upstairs from the bank. Someone else trotted behind, having collected my money off the floor.

The health folks patched me all up and I have been more cautious in bank lines ever since.