General Cycling Discussion - fell off roof, twisted my ankle, getting hurt without a bike!

So Friday I was roofing an addition at the retirement community I frequently work at. It had snowed the night before and I must have gotten some snow trapped in the tread of my boots, because as I was walking the roof I slipped right off. I was only 8' above the ground but I managed to land on my right ankle, twisting it badly. I immediately went home, put ice on the ankle, elevated my foot and have been trying to stay off my foot since Friday. Anyway my foot is still swollen and there is still some pain, but it's much better than it was on Friday. I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to speed recovery and how this is going to affect my ability to bike. Okay, really I'm just looking for sympathy;)

Keep the old chin up and thank goodness that it wasn't worse!

Jalabert fell off a ladder and seriously injured his back and obviously came back to ride great.

As for getting healthy, it sounds like you are on the right track. The RICE method is the way to go (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) if there wasn't serious damage done.

Good luck.

Everyone goes on about how dangerous cycling is, but the truth is more accidents and injuries happen at home: fixing things, falling off ladders, burns, falling down stairs, etc. Last year, I banged my knee really hard on the bedstead and it hurt like hell for days- no cycling! It was the worst injury I had until october when I got hit by a car. But I was off the bike for a week because my knee hurt so much.

is the ankle sprained??? I found the best thing for my swollen ankle was cycling I couldn't really feel any pain when cycling prob cause cycling is so low impact I didn't do anything too ambitious just a bit of flat every day till I recovered!!!
;)

Originally posted by thbirks
So Friday I was roofing an addition at the retirement community I frequently work at. It had snowed the night before and I must have gotten some snow trapped in the tread of my boots, because as I was walking the roof I slipped right off. I was only 8' above the ground but I managed to land on my right ankle, twisting it badly. I immediately went home, put ice on the ankle, elevated my foot and have been trying to stay off my foot since Friday. Anyway my foot is still swollen and there is still some pain, but it's much better than it was on Friday. I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to speed recovery and how this is going to affect my ability to bike. Okay, really I'm just looking for sympathy;)

Ice injury first 24hrs, then apply heat there after... Worked for my ancles, knee and wrist and finger sprains.

Just take it easy for a while. It's probably not the sort of thing you want to rush. As far as looking for sympathy goes: :cry:

Thanks for the advice everybody. I guess it's just gonna take a little time. It's killing me to just sit around the house though. At least It gives me some time to catch up with bikeforums.

i twisted my ankle really bad a few years ago. When out and bought a pair of k2 soft boot rollerblades. There was enough support to keep it from hurting and i was able to stay in biking shape and even build a little leg strenght.

i actually just twisted my ankle this weekend. it looked like my i had half of a baseball glued my ankle, it was pretty swolen. what i did was put cayenne oil and cayenne powder on my ankle and kinda massaged it a little, it might eventually feel like your foot is on fire but thats a good thing. the cayenne increases circulation and prevents inflamation which is the main reason for pain. you can also use arnika oil too which is a pain reliever. try and wrap your foot after to stabalize it, keep it from rolling around very much. hope this helps:D

Ow! Hope your ankle feels better soon, thbirks!

:)

Ask Trollie for some help. She is always quick with the TLC! ;)

Hope the ankle feels better soon.

Well, let that be a lesson to you. You should know the only way to get down from a roof is by riding a F/S MTB off the edge. :D

It's been over a week and the ankle is much better. I actually got in a 36mile ride today and 19 or so yesterday. I was taking it easy but biking seems to put less pressure on the ankle than walking.

This is something that you defiently don't want to rush. I tried that with a knee injury i got last may. DO you remember a cartoon called good idea bad idea and it gave scenarios. well figure it out from there.

And don't worry i don't really get along with gravity either.

Hope it clears up for you soon too

Birks, sorry I didn't see this sooner! Yikes!

Say, it's not a bad idea to see the doc, just to be sure there are no lasting problems. (I still get a sore left wrist sometimes from a hairline fracture 30 years ago.)