Grade 2 foot sprain (I know, not serious, just looking for quick advice)

Last Thursday I took a decent fall lead climbing in the gym. Dropped 10 or 15 feet and halfway down slammed my foot into a nice jug sticking out of the wall. Anyway, I thought I broke it...turns out it's just a grade 2 sprain.

We had climbing plans in late June that I'm going to have to miss. However, we were going to tackle our first 14er in mid July. Is this even plausible or should I cancel my plans now?

Everywhere I look it says 6 to 8 weeks. We were supposed to be there on week 6.

Anyone have any experience?

I do.

I’m sorry to say that 6-8 weeks is the minimum. When I had a sprain like yours it took me three months before I could return to activity without pain. 

Chad Miller wrote: I do.

I’m sorry to say that 6-8 weeks is the minimum. When I had a sprain like yours it took me three months before I could return to activity without pain. 

Fuuuuuuuuu.....

Sprains resolve surprisingly fast if do NSAIDs, elevation, icing, light mobilizations, etc. I’m always depressed after ankle injury, but a little scrubbing of projects and light hiking, back to the rocks in month. How much blood is pooling in your foot?

Which 14? How strenuous? Could be doable depending on the challenge. PT and movement are key. The less you work it the longer it'll take. 

Meow Sherwood wrote: Sprains resolve surprisingly fast if do NSAIDs, elevation, icing, light mobilizations, etc. I’m always depressed after ankle injury, but a little scrubbing of projects and light hiking, back to the rocks in month. How much blood is pooling in your foot?

The swelling has gone down probably 80% so far. Icing and elevation every night. I'm walking  on it now, just awkwardly...spent the day in the gym be laying my wife and daughter.

Jay Dee wrote: Which 14? How strenuous? Could be doable depending on the challenge. PT and movement are key. The less you work it the longer it'll take. 

Pikes peak. Trying to work it. Should I be moving it to the point of it hurting?

Brad Lara wrote:

Pikes peak. Trying to work it. Should I be moving it to the point of it hurting?

Follow PT recommendations on that. When I tore my ankle I did things while it hurt but I was cautious. I don't know that your injury is the same as mine so I wouldn't want to tell you dogmatically. Im sure it's not what your wanting to do activity wise but you can drive all of Pike's. Worst case scenario I reckon. 

Jay Dee wrote:

Follow PT recommendations on that. When I tore my ankle I did things while it hurt but I was cautious. I don't know that your injury is the same as mine so I wouldn't want to tell you dogmatically. Im sure it's not what your wanting to do activity wise but you can drive all of Pike's. Worst case scenario I reckon. 

Nahh. I need to climb the sucker!

Not gonna fly there to drive up it.

Fuck NSAIDS - they're proven to SLOW coming back from injury (and recovery in general).

What you need to do is go to a physical therapist, and get a PT routine to do. A sprained ankle tends to heal much weaker, and you run the risk of respraining them again and again.

Long Ranger wrote: Fuck NSAIDS - they're proven to SLOW coming back from injury (and recovery in general).

What you need to do is go to a physical therapist, and get a PT routine to do. A sprained ankle tends to heal much weaker, and you run the risk of respraining them again and again.

NSAIDs do have a downside, and the bodies inflammation response exists to protect you.. that said I wouldn’t rule out a short course for a sprain, really helps with the pain and speeds recovery by allowing you to do mobilizations.

+1 for getting PT

Brad Lara wrote:

The swelling has gone down probably 80% so far. Icing and elevation every night. I'm walking  on it now, just awkwardly...spent the day in the gym be laying my wife and daughter.

That’s good progress. If it’s a true class 2-3 there will be a dark bruise on the side/bottom of your foot where the blood from the injury pools. Hope you heal up quick!

I sprained my ankle badly (possibly grade 3) in mid March, two and a half months ago, and it's only the last few weeks I've gotten back to my regular level of activity. Although, I couldn't walk on my ankle for the first month so it was more severe than yours. My ankle still swells regularly but I rarely have pain anymore, only with certain movements. I'm sure you'll be fine to hike by mid July, just don't reinjure it before then!

Meow Sherwood wrote:

NSAIDs do have a downside, and the bodies inflammation response exists to protect you.. that said I wouldn’t rule out a short course for a sprain, really helps with the pain and speeds recovery by allowing you to do mobilizations.

Use of NSAIDS right after an injury is where they seem to cause the most harm: 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23982408

https://www.rheumatologynetwork.com/pain/do-nsaids-impair-healing-musculoskeletal-injuries

https://www.healio.com/orthopedics/knee/news/print/orthopaedics-today-europe/%7B4ea74b45-ab5b-4381-9d89-54cdffb04fc9%7D/nsaids-and-cox-2-inhibitors-impede-tendon-bone-and-cartilage-repair

I don't touch the stuff.

From the pubmed article. (2014)

this study suggests that the timing of ibuprofen administration is critical to adequate tendon healing... there were no differences [in healing] between the delayed ibuprofen group (8-14 days after surgery) and the control group.

From rheumatology network article (2011)

NSAIDs were found to be associated with nonunion or delayed healing of femoral shaft fractures in a study of 337 patients who took mainly ibuprofen or diclofenac for an average of 21 weeks. However, a meta-analysis of high-quality observational studies conducted by Dodwell and associates concluded that the risk of fracture nonunion is not increased by treatment with NSAIDs.

None of those articles were published within the past 5 years, which is not to say you aren't correct but my personal experience is that after the first week, NSAIDS are extremely useful in decreasing in latent inflammation, allowing PT to begin. 

Don't believe the RICE hype!

http://www.thesportsphysiotherapist.com/rice-or-meat-protocol-for-acute-ligament-sprain-treatment/

While RICE is more attuned to comfort and pain cessation, MEAT is better for actually healing as quickly as possible.  

Brad Lara wrote: Last Thursday I took a decent fall lead climbing in the gym. Dropped 10 or 15 feet and halfway down slammed my foot into a nice jug sticking out of the wall. Anyway, I thought I broke it...turns out it's just a grade 2 sprain.

We had climbing plans in late June that I'm going to have to miss. However, we were going to tackle our first 14er in mid July. Is this even plausible or should I cancel my plans now?

Everywhere I look it says 6 to 8 weeks. We were supposed to be there on week 6.

Anyone have any experience?

When I sprained my ankle, the approach hikes were worse than climbing for a while, once I returned to it. I was climbing with a brace (putting the brace over the climbing shoe) around 4 weeks post-sprain, but the hiking was somewhat painful for couple months at least, and my ankle felt unstable for maybe 3-4 months. 

Do you need to make the decision right now, or can it be a last-minute wait-and-see sort of thing? 
If you have to make the decision now, I’d say cancel. But if you can wait until the last minute, I’d say you might get lucky and be ok. 
But whatever you do, DEFINITELY find a PT! And do your exercises religiously. It will make a huge difference in the future, whether you would be the guy who, for the rest of your life, says that your ankle is “a bit iffy” vs a guy who doesn’t need to baby the injured ankle, because it is back 100%.  

What Lena Chita said. 

Lena chita wrote:

When I sprained my ankle, the approach hikes were worse than climbing for a while, once I returned to it. I was climbing with a brace (putting the brace over the climbing shoe) around 4 weeks post-sprain, but the hiking was somewhat painful for couple months at least, and my ankle felt unstable for maybe 3-4 months. 

Do you need to make the decision right now, or can it be a last-minute wait-and-see sort of thing? 
If you have to make the decision now, I’d say cancel. But if you can wait until the last minute, I’d say you might get lucky and be ok. 
But whatever you do, DEFINITELY find a PT! And do your exercises religiously. It will make a huge difference in the future, whether you would be the guy who, for the rest of your life, says that your ankle is “a bit iffy” vs a guy who doesn’t need to baby the injured ankle, because it is back 100%.  

It isn't a 'right now' decision. Probably a decision I have to make in 3 weeks.

Pikes as a hike is 13 or 26 miles RT. Do a 13 mile hike before taking on Pikes and see how that ankle likes that. Better at home than halfway up a mountain.

Long Ranger wrote: Pikes as a hike is 13 or 26 miles RT. Do a 13 mile hike before taking on Pikes and see how that ankle likes that. Better at home than halfway up a mountain.

Good advice, thanks. I'll plan on doing that in a couple weeks. We are only going up, so 13 it is.