Need Suggestions for Rehabbing Broken Ankle

[Hank_Z]

This request is for my wife. About one year ago she fell and broke to bones in her right ankle. Her doctor told her that rehab would not work for her and that she'd just need to wait one or two years or so for the pain to go away. So far, that hasn't worked. She has pain when she walks and even when she's lying in bed.

Maybe the doctor was right, but I don't want to assume that's the case. After seeing the depth of knowledge and creativity on this site, I'm asking you for suggestions on what exercises might help her.

My wife is 65 and has serious arthritis. That probably limits some of the exercises that she can do. Yesterday I showed her how to do a Iso Power Flex from her calf down to her foot. I thought that getting some additional blood into her lower leg and foot couldn't hurt and might help.

She was able to do that Flex with no pain when her foot was at a roughly 90-degree ankle to her calf. She did it several times during the day. I then asked to flex the same muscles with her foot pointed so that her foot was at roughly a 135-degree angle to her calf. Flexing in that position did cause some pain.

I'll appreciate any suggestions that you have, my friends.

[gruntbrain]

Ankle rehab : While laying on the floor grab a towel that is placed around your ankle & perform foot moves against the resistance of your "leveraged hands"

[MikeNY]

Hank I broke my leg and my ankle in accident just a few years ago. I wore a thigh high cast since the leg bones were broken and later they gave me a moonboot walking cast with the provision I was not to walk at all and had to use crutches and no weight bearing.

I went to rehab at a Physical Therapy Clinic, that leg had gotten a lot smaller and I had to build it up. They gave me physical therapy, heat and massage. The thing that worked the best was they used a Total Gym. I have a Total Gym made in the UK so had a exercise routine for daily use on my total gym.

I am sure there will be physical therapy where you are. That is the best course of action.

Wearing the thigh high cast wrecked my uninjured knee, wearing the moonboot wrecked the other knee. After I was well i discovered the M7. The Half Squat with tension works wonders for my knees. They are not bad enough to require surgury and nearly well now.

[kelbiz]

Hank;
This was shared with me by a co-worker that was recovering from a broken ankle as well.
Stand an arm's length from a wall with the weak ankle closest to the wall. You want to be able to put your hand flat against the wall as you stand parallel to it. With your wall-side arm extended but not touching the wall, close your eyes and lift the strong foot behind you just off the ground.
Beacause you have to balance with your eyes closed, your body will undergo many 'minor adjustments' to keep standing upright. Try this for 30 seconds at a time.
It creates a mind-body (or mind-ankle) link that will stimulate the healing in the weak area. Trying to balance with the eyes closed, on one foot, is tough as anything. Barefoot is best. It is totally stress free and no-impact at all.
A physical therapist actually told him about this and he swore by it.
I hope this helps.

Jack

[Hank_Z]

Thanks for the recommendations. I believe these may well help my wife's ankle.

Neither our doctor or my wife's physical therapist in the U.S. thought that rehab would make any difference to her broken ankle. In Costa Rica, we've not found a solid physical therapist and we have no health insurance coverage while we're away from the U.S.

Jack, your recommendation is very interesting. However my wife suffers from peripheral neuropathy. What does that mean? If she closed her eyes without holding onto a very solid surface, she would immediately crash to the floor. We have to leave a light on at night, because she can't walk in darkness.

I'll let you know how her ankle responds to the suggested exercises.

Hank

[kelbiz]

Hank;

I hope her rehab goes well.

Jack

[Hank_Z]

Hank;

I hope her rehab goes well.

Jack

Jack, just wanted to let you know how nice it feels to receive a simple, warm message like yours (above). This web site is teaching me that cyber-communication does not have to be cold and impersonal. Even among people who live in different states or nations.

[Misha4life]

I'll preach for my own chapel because it worked for me, but take this with a pinch of salt!
I had a broken thumb joint (fell on it & it was dislocated and a hairline fracture). They put a cast, but pain came in. when they took it off, it was stinking, and still dirty with the unwashed blood! I washed the joint in water and soap. At home, i applied a poultice of green clay. it took a week for the "bad" skin to fall off, exposing raw skin. The wound healed very quickly with green clay poultice. The doctor, who did not know this, was very satisfied and encouraged me to carry on. I had a remedial therapist that massaged the joint chain above, and later the joint itself. I did some movements. My thumb joint healed perfectly.
By the way, green clay is an anti-inflammatory, it takes pain and swelling out. It takes a few days to act, but it is like magic!
(I had a freind who had the remainder pain of shingles on her forehead and yelid. She pasted some clay and it was gone).
It is expensive, but it is a delight to feel the improvement.
I studied phsyiotherapy, and i can tell you that movement of an injured part - albeit restricted if painful - is indeed beneficial.
All the best with your wife, say that she will be well looked after on this forum!

[Alan_OldStudent]

Hi Reverend Hank,

My heart goes out to your wife. I hope she can find some way of remediating this issue.

You mention your health care insurance does not cover costs incurred outside the United States. Perhaps you might be able to get coverage from the Costa Rican national health care for a fee. You might want to check out this link (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/357920/costa_rica_a_look_at_its_national_healthcare.html? cat=5) on the Costa Rican National Health Care. This article is in English.

Do you or your wife understand Spanish?

If so, here is the link to Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (http://www.ccss.sa.cr/) (Costa Rica National Health Care). Perhaps one of your parishioners can help you navigate the system. I suspect many Costa Rican doctors speak English.

Regards,

Alan OldStudent

[sillypup]

during the time she isn't exercising or moving. she can do energy healing on it. rub hands together to generate heat chi. place it over her ankle, foot or injured area and have healing thoughts of projected healing energy.

brush the leg down to the ankles and out the foot to stimulate energy flow. then there is visualization or self hypnosis for body to heal. don't forget the mental aspects of healing too. there's also massage for the upper body and leg to support healing so blood flow to foot. of course, nutrition is important.

she can use isometrics to rehab so she can control the force. I did that with a client who shattered his bones at the arms on the deltoid area. help him wonders to regain back movement when the md surgeon doctor said he'll never regain movement again. prove that doctor wrong. too bad us natural healing practitioners don't get paid by the results. it was couple hundred bucks for him to see me a couple times. I just gave him homework. some things require the client to do the work. not like I can make him do his strengthen exercises. he may listen if i guide him to do it one on one but that's boring and dependency on me. if he went to someone else, who knows how long they will drag out the healing process with ineffective methods. he even reinjured himself with 2lbs weight that I prohibited him to do. it was during a physical therapist rehab session. so believe me, when i say that you don't need heavy weights to injure yourself. even with little weights you can injure yourself due to momentum leverage force depending on your condition.