For those of you who know me well, you are aware that my ankles are kinda "made in China"... If I am back on MyAtlas these days - as mentioned above - it's thanks to (or because of?) my right ankle. Therefore, it might be normal to dedicate them a blog post! 😉 I have decided to think back about my sprains.
My very first ankle sprain dates back to a sunny day of February 2016. I used to live in Hull, England. I went for a ride on my (old) bicycle (with no brakes) (and no helmet) when, suddenly, a car failed to give way (driver was on the phone), and hit my bike... I fell off the ground. First sprain: left ankle. A friend of mine, Annemarie, drove me to the hospital on that day. Nothing broken on the x-ray. No physio - as I used to live in the UK. And nothing really done for my leg. Pain lasted for a few months (at least until August, from what I remember; I was indeed still wearing my ankle support in Iran, and couldn't walk much).
2016 According to my memories and pics, I had my second sprain in February 2017 (I used to hate February), in Cardiff, Wales. However, I don't remember how it happened. This time was on the right ankle. From what I remember, it was a fairly small sprain, and did not last long. Yet, I took no care of it at all... I even hiked in Tenerife in April. My ligaments of course did not appreciate that - and let me know last year.
2017 I apparently survived 2018 without sprain! But got two in 2019. The first one took place in Suzhou, China, in May 2019. It happened the day of my very first (and only) stand up show. I got pretty wasted (before and after the show) with my friend Gersende. We ended up in a bar not far from my place (I used to live there at the time). Leaving the toilets (Turkish-style toilets), I missed a step, and fell. This time, right side. Again, no physio, no rest, and back to walking + zumba as if nothing happened after just a few days... 😦
2019-1The second one happened in August 2019 in Bali, Indonesia. Streets and pathwalks were potholed there. It was dark. I was paying attention, except for one second... New sprain. Again, right ankle. No physio, no real rest (only one day). I just went to see a guru in Ubud, before going back to normal life. It's kinda funny how I smile on some pictures even if I felt completely destroyed (both physically and mentally) inside.
2019-2My fifth sprain was a soft one, as I was somehow protected with high hiking shoes as well as hiking sticks. It happened in January 2020, in Cape-Verde (the story and photos of my whole trip to Cape-Verde can be found here). This time, the left ankle sprained. Pain did not last long. Not to change, no physio, no rest, and back to normal life and to sports right after... I did not realise how stupid I was back then.
2020 Final - and possibly worst - sprain happened in Nantes, France, in September 2022. However, that time, I did not understand it was a sprain, as it happened while I was getting up from my chair! I heard a "clack" noise, and felt pain right away. I couldn't put my foot on the floor. Yet, I thought it would pass. I cycled back home, and even went to zumba the same evening... What a mistake. A few days after that, my doctor prescribed physio sessions. But the pain didn't go away; it got worse. And worse. It reached my knee, and then my thigh. [...] Month after month, doctor after doctor, specialist after specialist. [...] In the end, I couldn't cycle anymore, walk anymore, drive anymore. Doctors all wanted to look at my knee, or at my back. And they were all saying: it's nothing, there's nothing. Until I eventually had an ankle MRI on July 3, 2023. Diagnosis: ligament rupture (the "clack" I heard). Hence the surgery, 21 days ago. That's it, you know it all...
2022 & 2023What did I learn from this?