Physiotherapy for my ankle

I was glad I had found a sports physiotherapist in the area! I was scared that maybe I would not be able to keep running away I had been doing. I realised I was a bit addicted! But physiotherapists can sometimes work magic so I hoped he could just give me exercises to do that would keep me going.

I had considered taking the train, but there was a rail strike, so I drove. And I found it without difficulty. Just before nine I walked in and met Oliver, the physiotherapist. And soon we were having a chat to find out where my problem had come from. I had been running every day pretty much since the onset of the lockdown, so I wasn't sure why I now suddenly had an ankle problem. I say suddenly; it had slowly come up. But why? Maybe it was something to do with my increased running steeply uphill. But I had just been enjoying that so much!

He then had a bit of a look. He asked me to walk around, stand on tip toes, crouch down, et cetera. And he checked the strength and flexibility of both my ankles.

He decided the problem was in my ligaments; the ones that keep the outside of the ankle together. And there wasn't a big problem with them but they needed a little bit of care. He said that my ankles should be a bit more flexible, and my calf muscles too. He said I should just try to flex my ankle a bit, and sometimes stand on one leg, especially the right leg. And he said I should warm up before I run. Just some ankle lifts, for instance. 

He said I should run a bit less for now. He figured I could go back to normal in the long run!

In the end he gave me a calf massage and then time was up. He said I should try to stick with his advice, and then drop him a line in a few weeks. Hopefully I would be all back to normal. And if not, then I should book another appointment and we could see what he could do.

Given that I was in the area anyway, I dropped by at my friend and colleague Katrien's for coffee. That was lovely! And then it was time to go home and put what he said into practice. I hoped I could make it work! I really love my daily runs…

The sort of thing my physiotherapist wants me to do