I am right handed and sprained my ankle quite bad, grade 2 sprain last month leaping to my right side for a net kill, was late and played a block but landed badly on my right ankle with my body weight, it rolled and i felt something tear badly, it immediately swelled and was painful walking for several days. My question is that I think i am landing on my right foot too straight sometimes pointing almost towards the net, then my weight shifts it overboard. Should the right foot land with the toes pointing slightly to the right side i.e. 1-3 o'clock? Also are there any rules or advice on this to reduce risk of further sprains landing on my right side? I am wearing an ankle support and have played once in the last two weeks and it feels ok. thx
You had it right. Your foot should be pointing in the direction you're moving in for that type of movement. You sometimes have your other foot pointing outwards to reduce strain on the Achilles. I don't have much more advice than that.
[MENTION=120700]Charlie-SWUK[/MENTION], really sorry to hear that you hurt yourself again and right before the upcoming tournament. Bad timing, but things like this just happen. I tried several ankle supports and braces in the past and as said, I am now fully happy with the Aircast A60 during badminton. It's the same brace that Andy Murray is using during all his matches and I have to say that it's not bothering me at all while playing. And what's most important for me: It gives a real physical support and not just a psychological one like those "soft" and sock-like braces. However it is important that you don't use the supports all the time but only for short periods where the danger of rolling it over is biggest (like during badminton). Else, you will just end up with even more loose tendons and ligaments since they don't have to do any more serious work at all. In parallel the best thing you can do to prevent this from happening again is strengthening the muscles, tendons and ligaments around your ankle. As I have previously written, a balance board or air-pad can help a lot. But first of all, fingers crossed that your current injury turns out to be only minor.
Well, my ankle is quite enormous at the moment. This is my right ankle for some reference on how pronounced bone structure and muscle structure should be.. And this is my left balloon. I had implanted instead of an ankle.
Holy cow, that does not look good. But good that you got it checked in the hospital, so at least you can be sure that there's no damage to the bones. So RICE it best possible, put on a bandage or brace, use Diclofenac-gel and wait how it develops. I bet it will show all colors of the rainbow in two days. For reference, here's how my ankle looked like the last time I sprained it: (WARNING - - - NASTY PICTURE FOLLOWING) I was back on court with only little bit of pain left after 6 weeks without badminton. So I wish you all the best for your quick recovery!
While we're competing for the worst sprains... Here are two pics of my last incident. WARNING: The following pictures may be disturbing to some viewers.
Okay, so Rob3rt is clearly in the lead in terms of swelling while I claim for myself to have achieved the best coloring. Let's see how Charlie's ankle will "perform" within the next days. Anyone else who wants to join our funny yet painful competition?
So it says that swelling should only last a couple of days, but my foot and ankle are quite big. I find it easier to bear weight on the ankle if I'm on the ball of the foot rather than flat. There's nothing broken in there, it's just soft tissue swelling. I just find it very unlikely this swelling will go down in 2 days. The swelling is down most of the top of my foot too. I'm moving it around and keeping socks on to keep some compression on it, even during the night. The pain isn't bad, and subsided very quickly. The anterior of the foot around the ankle still feels very weak. My foot also feels quite heavy, I feel, maybe because of the swelling. Any advice/comments?
Sounds very familiar and shows that you have spained it quite heavily this time. So my guess would be that you have either (partly) torn one or more of the ligaments or at least over-streched them quite badly. Thats why it feels so weak and unstable. Since it turned purple you have definitely damaged some blood vessels and the blood that came out there can be one of the reasons for the lasting swelling. It takes time until your body has removed it completely. Basically there is nothing left for you to do than continue with RICE and wait and see how it develops. The most important thing: Do not sprain it again quickly since this could mess up your ankle really, really badly!!! And I don't like to tell you this, but expect at least 6 weeks without badminton - do not go on court before your ankle feels stable and reliable again or it would only be a question of time until you sprain it again. Some physiotherapy in between would be very helpful to regain the strength and stability and maybe you get some tips how to prevent it from happening again. Most important for you: You will fully recover and be able to play badminton again without any constraints! All you need is abit of patience and to invest some work in the recovery. So stay positive even if the situation currently sucks big time!
Thanks Charlie, My right ankle swelled up and was bruised/slightly purple in colour but not clear purple like yours. Would like to echo that resting and icing is all you can do to reduce the swelling. It is up to your body now to do the healing and any light physical activity may only delay the healing process if you are not careful. I stopped playing for 4 weeks before I can go back to playing lightly but with a support, and must be alert when i move side to side.
Actually light activity may speed up the healing process, rather than just resting. But of course it's not advisable to do that when you are not able to walk properly.
I must go back on court again long before 6 weeks is up. My training will only consist of things like net shots and defense (smash blocks,reactions) and drives until I can actually move. That stuff is all quite light, but I can't go 6 weeks without at least contacting a shuttle.
Make sure you get an x-ray at the very least to rule out fractures. After a few days of ice, you can start applying Chinese teeta alcohol rubs. The anti-inflammatory actions help healing faster. You should also get an ankle support that you wear while walking or playing in the future.
I got it xray'd the night I did it Should I be taking NSAIDs like ibuprofen for this? I only took paracetamol because I read that NSAIDs can slow the healing process.
Some Diclofenac- or Ibuprofen-Gel is never bad, but don't expect any miracles. But since it doesn't hurt very much, you could also skip it and go for something based on herbs. I quite like a stuff called "Horse balm" (see -> link) which was (if you would like to believe the myth...) actually developed for a quick muscle regeneration of race-horses. It has a nice cooling effect and can also be used after a hard trainings session to relax the muscles. But again: There won't be any miracles. The only things that will really help are time and some physiotherapy. And I can only repeat it again: Act like a pro and let it heal properly before you go on court again! Even if you only practice netshots or defense, you will have to move quickly and have to rely on your ankle. Literally one single bad move will be enough to kick you out for another 4-6 weeks or even longer in case you get yourself some damage to the bones. But if you really must, must, must go on court before those 6 weeks are over, make sure to use a proper ankle support (something stable like the thing visor has linked).
I'll do it with slow footwork or no footwork, just to work on contact and shot quality. Be a good opportunity to perfect the cross court net shot. Of course I'll wear an ankle brace. I think I might keep wearing it through normal play too, as this is the 2nd time it's happened. My left handed footwork needs some improvement, but it can wait. It's more important to heal as you said.
