Ankle update #2

Went to the physio after work today. Got ultrasound, massage, and electro-shocking (very mild!). Chatted away with the physio and forgot to ask for a time prognosis... but I think at least 3 weeks. I had painted my toenails over the weekend, as you do when your ankle is not pretty - I don't think he noticed. :)

Anyway, the bruisig is quite the rainbow right now. I need to take a picture in the daylight - it's a bit tough to see in these. I know it's sort of weird to put up injury pictures, but oh well. The most bruising is on the outside of the ankle, where I"ve torn a front and back ligament, and then there is some lesser bruising on the inside of the ankle where I've sprained that big ligament.







That red mark is a reaction to the tape he used to tape me up. I always forget to tell people who are taping me up (cause it happens so often...) that I'm pretty sensitive to tape. He had put on a hypo-allergenic layer under most of the tape, but obviously missed a bit!

I've learned a lot about anatomy, muscles, and ligaments through all this. Ligaments just attach to the bone! How crazy is that? And they don't stretch at all - they are made of collage, strong stuff, but not elastic like elastin, which is in muscle along with the collagen. Ligaments are there to stop the extremes in range of motion - unless they are too overwhelmed and then they break. Ouch.

And it's still super swollen. I can't imagine what it would like if it hadn't bee compressed for the last week, or even within the first hour. Although - there is a part of me that wishes I could see how bad it would have been. I believe that's called the counterfactual. :) (good thing I'm an epidemiologist - we LOVE the counterfactual!) I need to find someone just like me in all ways, who had the same thing happen, but didn't do any first aid. I believe that's called a parallel life.

Anyway... I've got all sorts of exercises to do each day, and hopefully with some luck my ankle will be normal size (and color!) for my sister's wedding in 6 weeks!