Bouldering and ankle injuries...

Working as an x-ray tech at a hospital near a somewhat popular bouldering area, I've seen an alarming number of ankle sprains and fractures incurred from falls taken while bouldering. Interestingly enough, it seems that most of these injuries occur while landing on a flat pad set on a flat surface.

A few questions:

1. Does landing on a soft pad (versus a firm pad) increase the possibility of rolling an ankle?

2. Should multiple pads be placed edge-to-edge or overlapped?

3. Can ankle stretching be counter-productive, thus causing an ankle to be less stable and roll more easily?

4. Does taping work as a preventative measure?

5. Does anyone consciously utilize a safe-ankle strategy when pitching off a problem?

Any thoughts or personal experiences?

Zirkel wrote:3. Can ankle stretching be counter-productive, thus causing an ankle to be less stable and roll more easily? 4. Does taping work as a preventative measure?

3. A "stiffer" ankle should be less likely to roll in certain scenarios, yes. Ankle problems run in my family and they all involve problems with too much laxity. People think stretching prevents injury, but more movement can also be totally counterproductive.

4. Taping does usually help with ankle stability to some degree...if you know how to tape properly. I have done a hundred+ tape jobs on various athletes' ankles, so I can assure you it's a skill that takes time to become proficient at (it's not just "wrap some tape around an ankle;" there are very specific taping methods and certain steps you must master...not to mention it's not something you can really do on yourself, unfortunately).

Sorry, I can't answer your other questions.

Zirkel, you are lucky that you are a cat. You always land on your feet. Use your tail ...

Zirkel wrote: 5. Does anyone consciously utilize a safe-ankle strategy when pitching off a problem? Any thoughts or personal experiences?

Coming from multiple disciplines such as martial arts, gymnastics and currently messing around in ABQ as a tracer and Bboy I've learned the value of falling correctly. Correctly in the sense that you wanna absorb or distribute the impact of a fall over as much of your body as possible. Now I'm not saying every time you fall you should bellyflop or land flat on your back, though they sometimes are effective:) Things like rolling in the direction of impact, bending your knees if landing on your feet, or better yet collapsing your whole body into a roll upon impact. It's not things I do consciously anymore but learning how to fall and landing correctly are things that can be learned.

Personal Experiences hmmm? Let's see I've fallen at the last moves, repeatedly, of both the Sword of Damocles and High Plains Drifter missing my pads and spotters (they know better than to try when I rip off a highball problem) Fell after breaking a piece off the top of White Rastafarian in J-tree(Yes I landed on the rock below, bellyfirst, and no I didn't have a pad or spotter then) as well as Morning White Dove in Bishop. No broken bones or sprains yet.

Z-
Interesting set of questions. From anecdotal experience I would say that it's much more likely to roll an ankle on a soft pad versus a stiff one, even if the pad is placed perfect and the climber doesn't hit the edge of the pad.

I think that the edge to edge vs overlap w/ pad layout is completely situational, it's going to depend on the tree roots or talus blocks that you're trying to protect the climber from. That being said I try and be conscious of putting the edge of a pad in the center of the landing area even if its covered by another pad.

I've never heard of anyone stretching their ankles so much that the ankle is less stable, though after an ankle injury most people lose some proprioception and are thus more likely to roll and re-injure their ankle again. So having a good proprioceptive component to an ankle rehabilitation is critical in preventing future ankle injuries.

One very interesting discussion on this topic that has been brought up is that climbing shoes themselves are a huge part of the problem.
The foot is designed as a flexible arch and much of the impact force during running or jumping off of an object is absorpded via the foot giving/deforming under load. However, if you stuff a foot into a climbing shoe that creates a situation where the arch of the foot is reinforced to the point of having virtually no give to it... then where/how is most of the force during a fall dissipated?
I would be curious to see the stats on whether high ankle sprains and talar dome fractures are more common in bouldering than in other sports that have fairly frequent ankle injuries?

My safe ankle/foot strategy for bouldering (at least indoors) has been to wear slightly bigger, more comfy shoes. My feet certainly feel better at the end of the night, especially after pitching off the top of the Font or Hueco boulder in the Spot, even w/ a decent floor 15 feet to the ground gets old after a few falls.
cheers, BA

Learn how to fall correctly and things work out a lot better. Perhaps with a flat pad on an easy landing makes people lazy and not think about it as much.

Most people aren't going to be doing hard boulder problems in shoes that are too big. SO to make up for the lack of suspension there you need to exaggerate it other places.. I don't know why people think they need to stick landings like a gymnast. bend your knees.. bend your waist.. tuck and roll if it's a big fall. I climb in Solutions and Testarossas which are both quite downturned and have never had a problem with rolling my ankles.

I can tell you that a GOOD ankle taping is only supportive for about 1/2 hour. And getting a good ankle taping by yourself without training.. not likely. if you have bad ankles then you should consider a good ankle brace. the lace up kind with the extra straps are probably the cheapest design that still work pretty well.
This is the one we recommended at the PT clinic i worked at last year
amazon.com/ASO-Ankle-Stabil…

PLF (parachute landing fall) if it works for paratroopers with circle chutes and limited brakes.. you can certainly take a pretty controlled fall off a boulder

I think there's something to the soft pad vs. firm pad theory.

From my own experience, I slipped off Green Wall Essential in the BM's, which is a vertical problem with a flat landing, landed and rolled my ankle badly. I'm used to landing on my stiffer Metolius pad but had placed my friend's soft BD pad under the landing instead.

Additionally, I helped a woman from BC who did the same thing on Solarium at the Happies (vertical face, flat landing) a couple of weeks after my injury.

I also agree with Jake that you need to "train" yourself to land properly on your feet. As you get older and become injured, recovery becomes such an ordeal. Maybe that's why I don't see many "old guys" (except Andrew Stevens!) bouldering.

I've been bouldering for eight years, and in my early days I had three bad ankle sprains, two at the gym, and one outdoors. All three were within a one to two year period. I boulder more than ever now but I haven't had a sprain in over three years.

The definitive reason for that is the way I fall. I almost always land on my feet and immediately let my legs compress and land on my butt. Even if I'm only a few feet off the ground.

Be careful about pad placement, try to use good pads if you can, and above all else, don't let your ankles adsorb all of your impact!