Recovery time, torn ligaments
 

Hey all, looking for advice from anyone with experience with torn ligaments in regards to recovery time and riding. I was trail running 10 days ago when rolled my ankle and heard a loud pop. Went to the doc, he said complete tear. It would be two weeks on crutches an 6-9 months for complete recovery. Ten days later, I still have significant pain and swelling. Half of my lower leg is blue and yellow and I don't see how I could be off crutches in four days.

My main question is how long after an injury like this could I feasibly be riding? I would like to LBJ on labor day weekend. Does anyone think this is possible? There is no way I could get in a boot now, but I'm thinking once the swelling goes down and I'm in boot, it should stabilize the ankle enough to ride.

Thanks for any advise or tips.

My advice is to get the best possible advice now and get physio to strengthen it.

I had ligament damage to my knee, thought it would heal itself, but it never did. Now its 8 years later and I still limp a bit. I so wish I got the right advice back then.

You need to get it sorted for the long run, not be worrying about the next race, there will be plenty more of them, but chances are a new ankle wont come along.;)

my doctor told me that it takes one year [ 365 days] for these injuries to heal. and if you have 6 months recovery and you re-injury the problem, then reset [start at zero] the counter and work towards a year.

that scared me so i made sure i was recovered before i pushed it.

i would think that a "complete tear" would require surgery? tendons don't reattach on their own what my doc told me. a partial muscle tear will reconnect over time, 6-8 months at 16, probably longer, much longer now :)

knees are bad, they dont fix emselves too good.
used to skateboard so have HEAPS of expirience with ankles, done both of mine, many, many times.....
first, arnt the colours wonderfull, the bruses just keep changing colours and tend to end up on the bottom of your foot....
it takes AGES to heal, bones are way faster, and will probably never be the same again.
DONT push your recovery, if you tweak it your back to day 1 again.... if your over 21 or so, bout 2 weeks on crutches is normal, but i wouldn't do anything like riding for at least a few months,. even with good boots/ankle support.
just dont, i pushed one of my injuries and that is my really dodgey ankle now.
you will know when youre up to normal sorta stuff, but be very carful for atleast 1 year, remember, if you tweak it your back to day 1......
but i've found they go back to about 90% of pre accident strength, after a while....
now knee's, hmm learnig about that one now, getting a LARS next week.....

From what I understand, there are 3 ligaments that attach to the ankle bone. They tend to tear in order from back to front. So, it is likely to tear the first and/or second without tearing the third. That is where I think I am. A complete tear of all three means your foot is flopping around and has to be completely immobilized.

I think you guys are right, it maybe next year before I do any racing. I hope to be able to do some trial riding much sooner than that. I've broken several bones and understand the recovery and rehab process for those, but this is new territory for me.

My doc that did my rotator cuff and bicep tendon said count on 10%/month tendon repair for someone my age, 53.