Burning Ankle

Have you considered going to a doctor? if it's a genuine injury, then
proper treatment is a necessity if you want to enjoy doing anything with
your ankle, and not just unicycling.

If a doctor tells you that "it's nothing, don't worry about it" then
that sort of piece of mind can go a long way and you can enjoy your
uni.

Don't mess with even a potential injury--it can only get worse if it
needs attention.

Good luck,
Steve

--
dogbowl - New Unicyclist--I keep falling down

"Got an urge, got a surge, and it's out of control now. Uncontrollable
urge I want to tell you all about it." --DEVO
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dogbowl said:

*Have you considered going to a doctor? if it's a genuine injury, then
proper treatment is a necessity if you want to enjoy doing anything
with your ankle, and not just unicycling. ...*

A doctor who specializes in sports medicine/injuries might be much more
knowledgeable in this area then a general practitioner.
ChangingLINKS.com's description, of how it happened and of the symptoms,
is nicely detailed; a doctor with the correct knowledge may be able to
diagnose it quite accurately.

--
duaner - -

duaner.
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FINALLY, someone who has the same injury as me!! I've been explaining
this stupid ankle/top of foot thing to people for months and nobody
seems to know what I'm on about.

The injury you describe is precisely what's been happening to me, I'm
afraid I can't really help though.

I finally went to see a physio about it last week but I felt a bit
stupid coz there was really no sign of an injury to show. The best the
physio could come up with was that my calf muscles etc. are all quite
tight so I should work on increasing their flexiblity (how good are you
at touching your toes?).

This injury does seem to be getting better but I still feel it from time
to time if a jar my ankle while riding uni or playing soccer (it's
happened both sides, left is more prone to it at the moment though).

My best guess is that doing flexibility and strength training in the
entire foot region and not jarring it for as long as possible would cure
it but I can't stop riding hard for that long!

Let me know how you go, I'd advise asking a doc or maybe even a foot
specialist about it ASAP because it doesn't seem to be the sort of thing
that goes away in a hurry (I don't know how long I've been carrying it,
at least 3 or 4 months).

Cheers
Pete

--
pete66 - Level 4 Unicyclist
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I have gotten that exact same injury several times in the past. I even
had the same sequence of first a hyperflexion and a couple of weeks
later a hyperextension, both causing the same extreme burning followed
by soreness.

It persisted for a few months but I kept riding and it eventually
cleared up. I think it comes down to conditioning. While rehabbing
from my knee injury, in addition to quad and hamstring work, I also
built up my calves a little. Now when I ride on the balls of my feet, I
can really use "ankling" for climbing, and my ankles don't hyperflex on
drops.

So, I think doing heavy toe raises and other calf work will really help
you with the ankle folding problem.

The ankle hyperextension is going to be more of a freak occurance, and
probably a stretching regimin will be the best defense.

Seeing a doctor is still good advice, but I thought I would give you
some encouragement.

Scott

--
S_Wallis - MUni Motivated

"Don't neglect your knees! They're really useful." Words of wisdom from
Cyberbellum

"I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn
how to do it." Pablo Picasso
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I deeply massaged the ankle last night, and stretched it a LOT.
I even tried "pulling my foot off." Today, it feels a looooot better.

I don't want to go to a doctor because with this type of injury, there
is only so much they can say: Ice, Stretch, Strengthen, Heat, massage,
rest.

I avoided going to a doctor for many years. Finally, a chiropractor
convinced me to let him access me and ever since that day, I have an
occasional need for a chiroprator and now wear inserts in my shoes. In
other words, I know that if I want to be sick - I can go see a doctor,
and they will convince me I'm sick.

I appreciate everyone's input. While I wish that no one suffered from
this injury, it is good to know someone else experienced it and it can
"go away" with conditioning. Now, I can make it a point to ride light
off-road for twenty miles and stretch to help strengthen and repair it.

I think the key will be to build muscle without injuring it again.
I guess I could stick to freeriding for awhile so there are no surprise
bumps.

--
ChangingLINKS.com - member

Wishing you Happiness, Joy and Laughter,
Drew Brown
http://www.ChangingLINKS.com
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Drew;

This sounds like a pinched or irritated nerve along with a slightly
sprained tendon, but I could be wrong*. Owen has developed something of
chroninc ankle problem due to over-ranging in the way you first
described (toe bending up towards the shin). Rob, the guy that owns CATS
gym where we ride trials, sees this kind of injury in young gymnasts,
they over-range in that way when they land off of apparatus. We did what
he recommended and got a lace-up ankle support. Owen has been wearing it
whenever he rides for about 10 days and has not any further problems.
You definitely want to stop irritating it because it can turn into bone
spurs.

TTFN

JR

*I'm not that kind of a doctor

--
Jim_Rob - Old Man

TTFN

JR

"Riding uphill on a unicycle sucks", Walt, Nationally-ranked singlespeed
MTB racer
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Maybe checkout <http://www.foot.com/>. They describe all sorts of
strain/overuse injuries and have links for products that might help.

--
iunicycle - Old back, new cricks
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I get good results with Arnica and Trammel sp? creams or gels. You
should be able to find them at a good drug store. Apply topically 3 or 4
times daily. Ice to relieve any swelling which only prolongs the healing
process. And of course rest if you can and elevate the leg. Good luck
with the healing, I'm three weeks into healing a broken toe and it's not
easy being active like we all are.

--
aspenmike - unicycling albino
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ChangingLINKS.com said:

I don't want to go to a doctor because with this type of injury, there
is only so much they can say: Ice, Stretch, Strengthen, Heat, massage,
rest.

Or a sports medicine MD might detect a fracture of your talus bone
requiring other treatment (e.g. immobilization) if you want to avoid
chronic pain.

I'm not offering a diagnosis. I don't know if your symptoms are
consistent with talar fracture. But I do know that hyperflexion of
the foot causes fractures of this bone, and this is the sort of thing
a sports medicine doctor (particularly one specializing in feet) can
rule out.

Ken