Phantom Ankle Pain
I like to walk.
A couple years ago, I got a Fitbit Flex, which enabled me to track how much I walk in a day, and that encouraged me to do more walking. Now, I'm not crazy or anything - the most steps I ever got in a day was maybe 25,000 - and that was once when we were on vacation and going on hikes and sight seeing. My goal now is about 11,000 steps per day, which is enough that I need to push myself a little, but it isn't difficult to achieve on a normal day. I can hit it five or six days in a week (I don't try on Sundays).
I usually take a two mile walk in the morning, accompanying Peter to school and then continuing for a while. Yesterday morning, I had walked about 1 1/2 miles when my left ankle suddenly hurt like anything to have any weight on it at all. I limped along the best I could, trying different ways of walking to see which produced the least amount of pain and wishing desperately that I had crutches. I was on a trail, with no road in sight so there was no one to see me and offer a ride home. Five minutes later I was thinking that last half mile home was going to take me an hour, when I realized that my ankle didn't actually hurt anymore and I could walk on it again. Feeling a little confused but grateful, I gingerly made my way home. Every once in a while I would feel a twinge in my ankle, but for the most part, I was okay.
I decided at that point that I would take it easy for the day - I wouldn't push to get the 11,000 steps, and I would let my ankle rest. And it was okay, except that occasionally it wasn't and I was back to limping, unable to put any weight on it at all.
Today I wore my hiking boots when I went for my walk, hoping that they would give my ankle some additional support, and I managed to do the two mile loop just fine, although I did take it a little slower and more carefully than I normally would have.
What caused it? I don't know. I don't know if it was dislocated and snapped back in, or if it was twisted or what, but it is kind of unnerving how it can go from so much to pain to seeming perfectly fine. Whatever it is, I hope it goes away and I can return to normal activities.
A couple years ago, I got a Fitbit Flex, which enabled me to track how much I walk in a day, and that encouraged me to do more walking. Now, I'm not crazy or anything - the most steps I ever got in a day was maybe 25,000 - and that was once when we were on vacation and going on hikes and sight seeing. My goal now is about 11,000 steps per day, which is enough that I need to push myself a little, but it isn't difficult to achieve on a normal day. I can hit it five or six days in a week (I don't try on Sundays).
I usually take a two mile walk in the morning, accompanying Peter to school and then continuing for a while. Yesterday morning, I had walked about 1 1/2 miles when my left ankle suddenly hurt like anything to have any weight on it at all. I limped along the best I could, trying different ways of walking to see which produced the least amount of pain and wishing desperately that I had crutches. I was on a trail, with no road in sight so there was no one to see me and offer a ride home. Five minutes later I was thinking that last half mile home was going to take me an hour, when I realized that my ankle didn't actually hurt anymore and I could walk on it again. Feeling a little confused but grateful, I gingerly made my way home. Every once in a while I would feel a twinge in my ankle, but for the most part, I was okay.
I decided at that point that I would take it easy for the day - I wouldn't push to get the 11,000 steps, and I would let my ankle rest. And it was okay, except that occasionally it wasn't and I was back to limping, unable to put any weight on it at all.
Today I wore my hiking boots when I went for my walk, hoping that they would give my ankle some additional support, and I managed to do the two mile loop just fine, although I did take it a little slower and more carefully than I normally would have.
What caused it? I don't know. I don't know if it was dislocated and snapped back in, or if it was twisted or what, but it is kind of unnerving how it can go from so much to pain to seeming perfectly fine. Whatever it is, I hope it goes away and I can return to normal activities.
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