Dave’s Sprained Ankle

I’m learning a lot about what an actual ankle injury is really like. After a fun, if short, ice climbing season, Jess and I were climbing at The Spot, our local bouldering gym, when I fell from near the top of one of the boulders. It was a pretty typical fall and shouldn’t have resulted in an injury, but I managed to land on the very corner of one of the big crash pads. Instead of landing on my amply-padded butt, my right foot stuck to the mat and twisted underneath me as I rolled off to the side. It was immediately clear that this was way more than your typical twisted ankle.

I took some Advil after getting back home and put some ice on my ankle, but it was obvious the next morning that I couldn’t go to work. I couldn’t even put any weight onto my ankle. Instead I hopped around the house as I tried to make an appointment to see an orthopedist. Jess was able to pick me up in the afternoon and drive me into Boulder where I hopped up the stairs and into the doctor’s office. After a little ribbing about not having crutches, nor having been to the ER the night before, they x-rayed my leg to look for breaks. As it turns out, I was free of broken bones, but I’d clearly badly injured my ankle. The doctor prescribed this brace for three weeks followed by a few weeks of physical therapy.

After about 6-8 weeks, I was finally moving around pretty well, but the ankle is still a little weak and prone to aggravation. It’s a little sad that the injury resulted from such a mundane fall, but I guess some stories just aren’t as good as others.