Ankle injury - physio ?

[LIZS]

I twisted my foot before Chritmas coming down stairs and sprained the area just below the ankle bone. Did the RICE treatment immediately, it swelled a little and was very bruised for about 2 weeks but was able to drive and weight bear after the intial few days of rest. Rested it a lot and wore support bandage but a month on it is still restricted in movement (can't fully flex the foot)and I get various points where it becomes achy and sore if , for example, I crouch down to look in the oven and go onto ball of foot, but no persistent pain.

Does it sound as if I need physio ? If I go to gp now am I likely to be dismissed as the injury was so long ago. I possibly could go private but would still need a gp referral. Due to go skiing in 2 months but couldn't possibly get the boot on yet and can't exercise !

You can definitely accelerate recovery if you need to, pro sportspeople are proof of that.

Hi LIZS, I agree with highlander. If you have a longstanding biomechanical problem with your foot it's worth getting it checked out...or you may just keep on spraining it. With each injury the healing time is longer (as is amount of time it will take you working/exercising it to get it right). A once off physio assessment/treatment may be all you need. GP's tend to give out general exercises whereas a physio will probably give you something specific to your problem.
With the skiing your ankle will be protected in the boot...but there's always the chance you'll go over on it whilst enjoying your apres ski!!

Appointment to see a physio on Monday (£38 for about 45 mins) and she suggested I rang the gp surgery back to see if they would refer me anyway so I could claim !

Hope it goes well. I'm sure it will be worth the money!

thanks , what will she do ? I'm not good at anyone actually touching my feet !

I'm no ankle expert but she should look specifically at your ankle and the injury you sustained (she will poke and prod a bit then!) with a view to treating your current symptoms. In addition she should look at why you injured that way ie if you have any biomechanical problems likely to predispose you to ankle injury and then decide how to address that. Shouldn't be too much handling of your foot. Good luck

All as northender says, plus he/she will have a good look at you walking. Take some shorts as you will need to have all your legs exposed for the examination part.
Oh, and wash your feet before you go...how I hated looking at filthy smelly feet!

Thanks for all the advice. have bee and she watched me do certain movements , felt my joints , massaged it and managed to get my foot flexed, a bit of ultrasound and then some more massage. Got some exercises to do until I see her again next week. Bit sore now and have put ice pack on as advised.

Update - am going for 4th appointment later. Much more movement now and comfortably more flexible but still painful to put all my weight through the foot (ie. to heel raise on one foot) and my heel is sore too.

Glad things sound like they seem to be improving (all be it a bit slowly), it's worth persisting though to get it fixed.

Did your physio think it would be OK to go skiing on?

Just got back and she worked on under my foot as well as it was tight. Still working towards skiing !

Update : it survived a week's skiing last week although the heavy spring snow did make it a little sore by the end of the week and I tweaked it a bit falling in powder. The physio said it was a high ankle sprain affecting the ligaments between the 2 lower leg bones and that was why recovery was slower. Anyway it is almost back to normal and with a bit more use should be fine for everyday and general exercise with no further treatment