Riding after dislocated ankle

[ericspin]

So I'm about 3 weeks away from when I hope my doc will release me to start bearing weight on my ankle. I recently severely dislocated my ankle and broke my tibia. A plate and 7 screws later I'm on the mend. The surgeon mentioned that one of the best therapies upon weight bearing will be cycling. Good for me. Of course, I will be following the doc's orders and was curious if any of you that might have had similar issues used your bike to begin recovery. Looking for some hope and would like to think about something other than laying on the couch to keep the swelling down.

[FlashUNC]

I can't speak to your specific injury. Mine was a pretty thorough elbow demolition.

It sucks. Just follow doc's orders and know it'll improve with time.

My main frustration (and continues to be) is progress not happening at the speed I want. Things are improving, just not at the rate I'd like, despite assurances from my ortho that I am more or less ahead of schedule. (Was riding a month before their projections, ahead of their estimates on where range of motion should be, etc.)

But just take it one bit at a time and you'll get there.

Here are some horrifying X-ray photos just to commisserate:

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=105481

[ericspin]

I'm going to dredge this up again to see if the weekday crowd might bring some more response. To update I am now less than a week away from the doctor appt that should release me to begin weight bearing. Anyway, anybody have experience with getting it cranked back up after a dislocated ankle? Thanks.

[Louis]

About 10 years ago I sprained my ankle quite badly. Lots of pain walking, lots of funky colors under the skin, and lots of RICE. (didn't bother to go in to see a doc)

In my case it turned out that after a few days of rest, riding was less painful than walking. I guess the pedaling motion (using old-style Look pedals with red Delta cleats) was inherently more stable than walking. So for me the return to riding was no big deal, but I had a sore ankle for many, many months. I think it was at least a year before I was back to 100%.

Good Luck

[jmoore]

I dislocated my right ankle when I slipped on some black ice a few years back. 3 hours after I got to the ER, they finally gave me some morphine which lasted for about 15 minutes. They had to put my under to reset it manually. And yes, that was as awful as it sounds. I was on crutches for a while and then into physical therapy a few days a week for about 6 weeks. The first thing they had me do in therapy was ride the stationary bike for 10 minutes.

I was able to ride on the road somewhere in the middle of PT without much pain. There was some stiffness and a dull ache but there is no lateral motion of the ankle in cycling so it wasn't bad. It was much easier to ride than to walk. The pain I felt trying to get my fitness back was much worse than a stiff ankle.

So follow doctors orders, do your PT and get back on the bike when you are ready. I wouldn't go doing any centuries or 5000' climbing days right off the bat, but follow your head and heart and you'll be fine.

[Louis]

follow your head and heart and you'll be fine.

After my left knee was 'scoped years ago (plica) and I was into PT my ortho-doc said something like "Ride as much as you like, as much as you can stand. Your body and the resulting pain will tell you if you're doing too much."