I broke my ankle (talar dome fracture) last year. It went misdiagnosed for 7 months. Then I had a cast for three and a half months followed by month with an air cast. I’m now cleared to ride and have been slowly getting back to it over the last month. The ankle does not hurt when I ride, but it is stiff. When I am jumping (mostly) I am unbalanced. I end up with more weight in my good ankle and my saddle tends to shift to the right, my good side. I keep having to adjust it back to the left. I’m thinking of trying to lengthen my stirrup on the left and see if that helps. I cannot flex that ankle and may never be able to put a lot of weight in that stirrup. Any thoughts?
did you do any PT after you got out of the cast? As much as I hate it, it does help.
Physion. With a good hands on physiotherapist that can slide that sucker back into position for you with some medieval looking equipment. Gross but effective.
My BF had a Hawkins III displaced fracture of the talus. Nasty. After a couple screws, time to heal and lots of physio he is back to riding. Back in track socks helped with keeping it limber and may be worth you trying. Other than that physio. It has been almost a year and every so often he needs to go and get it slid back again. It is amazing that after every ‘adjustment’ he can get his heels down no problem which has been lasting longer and longer.
my bow balance flexible stirrup irons help a lot. other brands not so much
I would think you would need some P.T.
I spent 3 weeks in a cast and the next 9 weeks in a boot and my foot was FROZEN. I did have peroneal tendon repairs rather than a broken bone but what was really tight was my achilles. It felt about 2 inches shorter than it used to and I’m sure that is just from residing in the cast or boot for 3 months. I finally got to start PT last week and already there is quite a noticeable difference after just 2 sessions but it will definitely be a work in progress. The doc ordered 4-6 weeks so we will see.
If you don’t have insurance, even if you could get a couple sessions to pinpoint what needs to be loosened up and the appropriate exercises to do that would be worth it.
Susan
You’ll figure it out!
This is very common after ankle injuries and agree that a PT can help you/advise you.
I had to ride one hole longer on my bad ankle side for years. Sometimes had to shim the saddle to keep it level. My ankle was and remains weaker and when iron on ball of foot - the ankle collapses more in 2 point so the longer hole keeps the saddle balanced. My hips? not so much!
You may also have to “ride home” for awhile and no jumping or even 2 pt. for awhile until you get the flexibility and strength back. There’s a certain amount of arthritis thats gonna happen here and it may always be stiff. You’ll figure it out. We all seem to!!
Don’t be afraid to experiment. Think biomechanics! Think longer stirrups.
