The sprain that tore my ankle tendon and left me on crutches

I wasn’t supposed to be working over that weekend. But I did it anyway. I had to urgently take photographs for a story I was writing on Saturday.

Events ensuing afterwards made me wish that I had listened to my gut instinct and stayed at home.

After a brief chat with the woman I was meeting, I asked her to step outside her house with her two lovely boys— aged two and five — so I could get more colourful pictures of them on the lush green grass amidst beautiful flowers surrounding the house.

I was the first to get out, eager to identify a perfect spot for the pictures. This particular house was on the ground floor of an apartment block, linked to a small garden by a narrow cemented pathway with two steps at the end.

Unbearable pain

The pathway had an amazing floor pattern that matched the steps. In fact, it was hard to tell where it stopped and where the steps began. This ended up being the cause of my misfortune.

I walked straight ahead, missed a step and fell with a thud on the hard concrete separating various sections of the garden.

The pain was excruciating. I felt like molten lava was flowing from my left foot, up the entire leg. The pain subsided after a couple of minutes but left behind a dull ache — especially around the ankle area — that would be amplified any time I walked.

That didn’t bother me much so I went about my business, running some errands in town.

In case you are wondering what happened to the photos, well, I did take some before my camera which had also ‘suffered’ the fall went off. It never recovered.

As the day progressed, the pain got worse. By late afternoon, it was swollen and the pain was unbearable.

A few pain killers, hot water massage and some ‘deep-heat’ ointment enabled me cope on Sunday. On Monday I decided to go to hospital.

I was seen by a general physician who ordered for an x-ray of the ankle. The results turned out to be normal—without any broken bones that would have worried the doctor. It was just a sprained ankle.

I was given some anti-inflammatory drugs and advised to just go slow on the leg for about a month or thereabouts to hasten the healing process.

“The x-ray is ok. So it’s nothing serious. You should be up and about after a couple of weeks,” said the doctor as I prepared to leave her office. I followed her instructions religiously and avoided almost all activities that involved a lot of walking.

The results were amazing and the foot regained most of its functionality after two months. I could go about my duties, albeit with a slight limp that became more pronounced whenever I walked for long periods.

Sometimes I would feel some pain on the ankle after a long day but it would be gone by morning, after a restful sleep.

It didn’t bother me much as I assumed that the foot would get better with time.

That didn’t happen. Unknown to me at the time, I was continuing to pile pressure on already weak ankle ligaments that still needed time to heal.

Five months after the initial accident, I re-injured the ankle and completely tore a ligament that controls its functioning and mobility to facilitate leg movement. Other adjacent ligaments were also bruised.

The swelling and pain was unbearable, and more intense than what I had felt when I first injured the ankle. No home therapies or drugs seemed to work. I began using a crutch to help with movement.

Through this ordeal I have painfully learnt that ankle sprains are never fine until they heal completely. This implies that you should only go back to normal activities when you can no longer feel the pain.

If the healing process takes longer than three weeks, even after sufficiently resting the ankle and taking recommended medication, you should consider seeing an orthopaedic doctor to get an expert opinion on the injury.

When I visited a doctor after the re-injury, he recommended a CT scan on the ankle. This technology offers more deeper and detailed images of body tissues than x-rays. Ironically, it showed that the ankle was normal. This was frustrating as I was still in pain.

Later, MRI scans coupled with an ankle ultrasound revealed showed that I had a torn ligament and build-up of fluids around injured areas that was causing the swelling.

The diagnosis was discouraging but I was happy that the problem had been identified and doctors now knew what they were dealing with.

The initial course of treatment involved the injection of steroids into affected areas of the ankle to stimulate the body’s natural healing process. The goal is to let the torn and bruised ligaments heal by themselves. If this option doesn’t work, then surgery will be required.

To avoid the scalpel and hasten the healing process, I am now more careful with the foot and I avoid straining it. I am also consuming lots of vitamins, vegetables and high quality proteins (organic chicken, fish or lean meat) that are known to repair to ligaments.

Current situation

Luckily, my insurance cover met a huge proportion of the about Sh50,000 incurred so far in treating the injured ankle. This reinforces the significance of investing in a comprehensive medical insurance cover. Without it, I would have had to personally bear the monetary burden.

Above all, I have adapted to my current situation, viewing it as just another of the many upheavals in life that come our way.

Ligament injuries take time to heal. Footballers with such injuries sometimes take a break of six months or even a year before they fully recover and get back to the field. It’s therefore important to be patient and positive throughout the healing process.

An ankle sprain occurs when one or more ligaments that connect bones of the leg to the foot are injured — stretched beyond limit or completely torn.

This usually happens when the foot suddenly rolls or twists, forcing the ankle joint out of its normal position.
Mild sprains can be treated at home by elevating the affected foot with pillows while resting or sleeping. This helps to reduce swelling. Ice can also be applied to the injured area to reduce pain.

Irrespective of whether the injury is mild or severe, it’s important to use an ankle support bandage or brace to stabilise the foot while walking so as to prevent re-injury.

After some time, the pain and swelling in an injured ankle will eventually go away. But once you sprain your ankle it becomes weak and prone to subsequent sprains.

To avoid this, it’s important to perform specialised exercises - after the healing is complete - that strengthen the ankle to avoid repeat injuries.