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A couple of weeks ago I had a nasty accident. As I was stepping back into my car to park it after dropping off the kit for my class, my foot slipped on some gravel in a small pothole in the tarmac. My ankle fell inwards and I knew I’d sprained it. Then I noticed blood - lots of it - and I realised I had damaged the inside of my calf.
On further examination, It was clear I needed some help and would probably need to go to A&E. This was a very nasty situation. My skin had been ripped off my leg exposing a quite large raw wound.
Having given me a shot of morphine for the pain, the hospital patched me up and warned me that I was at risk of getting an abscess on my leg due to my age. This can often happen because the blood flow in our legs deteriorates as we get older. After a couple of days, this motivated me to stay active despite the injury so that my blood flow would be maintained. The sprained ankle was sore but I could still walk on it.
Some 10 days later, on my way to get my hair done in town, I sprained the same ankle again! I couldn’t believe it! This time it gave way outwards on an uneven pavement. As you can imagine, I was so cross with myself as I hobbled to the hairdressers which, fortunately, was only a short distance away. Sitting down for an hour, relaxing and drinking several cups of tea, helped me to recover.
The next day I went to the physio gym that I usually attend on Thursday mornings but instead of my workout I was given rehab exercises for my poor ankle. As the week went on I diligently applied an ice pack at regular intervals and kept my leg elevated when possible and also did the exercises I was given by the physiotherapist.
From day one I was told to point and flex my injured foot x 15 – 20, three times a day.
After three days, and having given the ankle a chance to settle, I was told to stand next to a firm surface (eg a kitchen top) and hold on with one hand whilst lifting my ‘good’ leg off the floor so that I could balance on my sore foot for a few minutes every day. This would work on my proprioceptors to help me balance better. Six days later, my ankle had completely recovered.
Thankfully, my open wound is progressing nicely and is being redressed twice a week by a nurse at my doctor’s practice. It will take many weeks to heal completely but I am grateful that it is doing well so far. It doesn’t hurt too much as long as I don’t touch it! At least I can now walk without pain as my ankle is fully fit again.
But why did my ankle give way so soon after the first time? I asked my physio.
Apparently, within our muscles, joints and tendons we have what are called proprioceptors. These are sensory receptors that we have in our nervous system and our body and, when we move, the receptors send detailed messages to our brain about our positions and actions.
A perfect example of our proprioceptors in action is clear when we stand on one leg. Our foot wiggles to and fro, side to side, as we try to find our point of balance. Our sensory receptors in our foot are sending messages to our brain telling us how to steady ourselves. The ‘fitter’ our proprioceptors, the easier it is for us to balance.
Up until the time when I injured myself, I walked every day in our nearby wood with BB, our dog. The ground is uneven, there are rocks on the path and twigs, sticks and leaves all around, fallen from the trees. There is a mixture of rocky, gravel and grass paths. The terrain is so uneven and unpredictable that it provides brilliant training for our proprioceptors.
Walking on these kinds of ground conditions trains our feet to cope with unexpected changes in surface levels so that we don’t fall over. Mary has spoken in her previous Fitness Challenges about ‘walking on uneven terrain’ being good for us. This is why!
From the day of my injury, I didn’t walk in the wood because I felt I should keep to a flat and even surface because my leg and ankle hurt. After a rest day, BB and I still went for our daily walk but we went on tarmac instead.
In those 10 days since my injury, my proprioceptors had not been challenged in their usual way and were now not working as sharply as before my accident, added to which my ankle was injured already and not working at full strength to support me. Once I learned this, I was back in the wood with BB, embracing the uneven ground and training my feet to be stronger and able to keep me upright!
So, the moral of this story is to walk on uneven ground on your walk whenever you can and work on your balance exercises. This will keep your proprioceptors fit and healthy. And if you do have a mishap, if you follow the advice given to you by your doctor or physio, you will recover much more quickly!
Breast Cancer Screening – I said I would let you know when I received the result from my recent mammogram. I am delighted to be able to say that all is well. I am so glad I self-elected to have the test. It was so simple to book (just contact Breast Screening and book your appointment) and I received the result within three weeks.
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The biggest group in the workforce is nurses. The numbers employed have trebled and much of the basic personal care they used to provide is now much more likely to be done by healthcare assistants, with nurses involved in providing complex care that was once the preserve of doctors. Doctors' numbers have also swelled with 10 times as many working for the health service as there were when it was created.
