A Sprained Ankle Doesn’t Have to Become a Chronic Foot Pain Problem

Can’t remember the last time I had a sprained ankle… It’s been 30 years or more.  My silly sprained ankle accident happened a week ago Saturday.  I stepped in a low spot in a parking lot and turned my ankle.  Really wrenched it!  My foot turned completely sideways and all my weight went on it.  I quickly righted myself, and limped for a few steps, then proceeded with my day, kind of amazed that nothing “popped” seemed to crack, or hurt very badly.  If it had been anybody else, (who doesn’t focus on foot fitness,) I’m guessing they would have been carted off to the emergency room with way more than a sprained ankle, probably a fractured foot, or lots of torn tendons and ligaments.

Is my foot 100% back to normal, not quite.  I overstretched things a lot! And I’m counting myself very lucky, it should have been so much worse than just a sprained ankle.  I’m still treating it gingerly to heal fully.  BUT zero swelling, zero bruising, and when I went to the chiropractor today, I have full movement, the joint is open, and he was amazed when I told him what I’d done.  My foot and ankle are only a little sore, with a tiny bit of inflammation which is so much less than I expected based on my stupid parking lot mishap. (Silly things happen to the best of us.)

Why am I sharing this?  Because preventative medicine isn’t just pills and potions.  There are so many things we can do to ensure good health.  It starts with learning how to listen to the body and take care of our daily needs.  Eating healthy, getting enough sleep, and daily exercise can go a long way to preventing illness and injury for a happy, healthy, and active life.  I was tired, I’d had a long workout, and wasn’t really looking at where I put my foot down when my accident happened. So know I’m dealing with the repercussions of my little mishap.

It’s important to listen to our bodies when something is not quite right, to allow the healing time necessary to keep injuries from turning into chronic pain problems if you really want to stay healthy.  This seems especially challenging when we’ve got foot pain problems, because we need our feet to take us where we want/need to go.  If you limp around on a sprained ankle, and do you really think it’s going to get better quickly?

A holistic approach to good health means one should pay attention to everything they do as our choices affect our outcomes.   “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” was Benjamin Franklin’s famous saying which holds true here too.  It’s easier to stay healthy, than to get your good health back.  Making wise choices with everything you do will help maintain your good health.

My question for you to consider today…

(I’m assuming that you’re already making lots of great efforts to improve your wellness) If you’re making great health choices for the rest of your body… What are you doing for your feet? 

Good health starts from the ground up!  If you want to fine-tune your fitness, improve your posture for better body alignment and keep all your muscles working well, please don’t forget about your feet!

What do I know saved me from a serious foot injury last week and has me dealing with just a sprained ankle?  The foot fitness exercises I do and teach!  Especially what’s listed below:

• The Terrific Toe series exercises, and Standing foot exercises from the Fantastic Feet book
• The Super-Ankle Foot Fit Board exercises
• My lateral skate training, and Coreglide board classes at Bodhi Body Pilates
• My weekly Pilates workouts with focused foot exercises including Footwork, the Stomach Massage series, and Running on the Reformer.

I’m so very grateful to be walking this week! But trust me, I’m not walking for a workout, or doing much in a full-weight bearing position. Giving my foot a little rest-break to recover, then planning to double up on my foot-care routine to ensure it’s a very long time (hopefully never) before something like this happens again!

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To take good care of your feet, and be sure you’ve got the resources you need to stretch, and strengthen your ankles, arches, and toes – I recommend you get a Runfit Kit.  The Runfit Kit contains all my favorite foot-fitness exercise tools and toys to help keep your feet in tip-top shape for better health. (Running is not a requirement, to get benefits from the foot-care resources in this helpful foot-care kit!)

If you already have a copy of the book Fantastic Feet, and have been doing your exercises, you can purchase the rest of the foot-care resources separately in the Foot Fitness section of the Centerworks store.