Can playing on crutches be a curse?

We have another guest post today, this one is from Sarah Rohrer, Lexy's sister in law and Carrie's friend.  She is also the talent behind our fun website header and a frequent commenter on the blog.  We have all known each other for nearly 20 years.  Sarah, her husband and their beautiful daughters are on their own health journey and enjoy celebrating their successes along the way. 

My husband recently hurt his knee and was given crutches.  Since I’ve never injured myself, I thought it would be fun to see what crutches feel like to use.  My husband immediately told me, “don’t play on my crutches, it is bad luck!”  I thought OH FUEY!

Well, two weeks later, while walking…yes just walking around the corner, I rolled my ankle and sprained it.  The curse came true.  My hubby is so sweet; he never once said told you so.

I had to wear a boot for two weeks and start physical therapy once the boot came off.  In physical therapy I learned that I have very weak ankles.  The ankle exercises I was given are great for building strength in your ankles.  Of course, if you actually sprain, fracture, or break your ankle, ignore these tips and go directly to your doctor.  I’m only providing these exercises as a preventive measure for ankle injuries.

I typically completed the exercises once or twice a day.

The first two exercises are easy and can be done without any equipment:

Ankle Circles – rotate your foot at the ankle in a circular motion.  Do this clockwise and counter clockwise.  I typically did twenty in each direction on both sides.

Ankle Alphabet – write the alphabet with your foot and ankle in the air.  I imagined that my big toe had a pencil attached to it.  Write A to Z once on both sides.

The rest of the exercises require resistance bands.  Mine were Thera-Bands given to me through physical therapy, but you can easily find them.  Here is just one example from Amazon.  I started out with a light band, moved to medium, and then hard.

Resisted Plantar Flexion – Wrap the band around the bottom of the foot, pull the band towards the body and press down on the foot.  I did this twenty times on both sides.

Resisted Eversion – Wrap the band around the bottom of the foot, wrap both sides of the band around the outside of the other foot, pull the band towards the body, and turn the first foot outward.  I did this twenty times on both sides.

Resisted Inversion – Wrap the band around the bottom of the foot, cross the other leg over the first leg, wrap both sides of the band around the side of the second foot, pull the band towards the body, and turn the first foot inward.  I did this twenty times on both sides.

I was surprised to find that these very easy exercises really helped to make my ankles stronger.  I’m happy to say that I’m completely healed and able to wear my high heels again!

Do you have any funny injury stories?  What exercises were you given?