Doctor Results Regarding my Ankle

It's been over 3 weeks since I hurt my ankle. I've went to 1 spinning class, tried swimming once, and tried running about 80 feet. It got better the first week, but hasn't seemed to do too much over the last 2 weeks, so I went to the doctor to make sure I didn't really screw something up:

X-ray time.

I was asked if I was married, and if my spouse ever gets angry at me and would hurt me. "No, really, I tripped while moving a couch" I said with a slight smirk.

So the sports doc and his resident both thought it was just a medial ankle sprain. That's good news, but it's a rarer kind of sprain that takes longer to heal. Super. Here's some info from SportsMedBC:

Lateral ankle sprain [NOT what I have]: usually from inversion with plantarflexion (turning the toes in while pointing them down) leading to injury of the ligaments on the outside of the ankle.

Medial ankle sprain [WHAT I HAVE]: usually from eversion with dorsiflexion (turning the toes out while pointing them up) leading to injury of the ligaments on the medial side of the ankle. Because the ligament here (deltoid ligament) is very strong, this injury is rarer and can take up to twice as long to heal than lateral sprains. It is also often associated with fractures of the fibula or other bones in the ankle (medial malleolus, talar dome, articular surfaces). [Glad I didn't do that!]

Return to Activity:
This is a gradual process and time is dependent of a variety of factors including: degree of injury severity, duration of symptoms prior to treatment, history of injury to the area, compliance to treatment and rehabilitation protocol. The following is a list of guidelines to follow when returning to activity.

- Work towards full range of motion in the affected ankle compared to the unaffected ankle.
- Work towards full strength of the affected ankle compared to the unaffected ankle.
- Work towards jogging straight ahead without pain or limping and progress up to weaving and cutting laterally, in addition to hoping and jumping on the affected ankle.

Just 2 days ago, Running.competitor.com published an article about rehabbing a sprained ankle. Good timing. So I'll work on some of those exercises.

Oh, and on the day after my doctor's appointment, Henry and I were doing some yard work when I got whipped in the face by a branch. He kept pointing at it:

No really. My wife doesn't get angry and strike me. This is from yard work. I swear.

I might try biking and/or swimming this weekend, but I know I'm not ready to start running yet - I'll maybe try that in another week. The doc said "you should be happier about life in about a month," so I know it still just needs a little more rest.