@higginsrob Hi Rob! thanks a lot for sharing your experience. I think that my case was something similar as yours. Actually im with cast that will be off on March 2. Hopefully the surgery was succesfulll and my ankle is feeling pretty well. After March I'll buy an indoboard and some other things for exercising my ankle. Thanks again Rob for being a motivation for me, take care bro!
Hi Rob! im your position right now... last week I fractured my ankle with my skateboard & actually im waiting for a surgery on friday. I would like you to share with me all the process during and after the surgery. Im very worried because Im a surfer like you and this will be my first surgery of my life...well im happy to find someone like me so, hope to keep talking with you.. Sorry for my english, im from Puerto Rico
Another thing to get ready for is a sharp pain when all the blood rushes to your leg, putting it down after it’s been elevated for a long time. I think that lasted about a month or two after surgery. I also had weird nerve ending things happening, where I would touch my leg near the metal plate and my toes would feel the strangest sensation like a small spark. It took months for that to go away.
(I DON’T RECOMMEND THIS FOR MOST PEOPLE!) I did not go to physical therapy. I created my own schedule that was basically in the ocean almost every day, and boogie boarding 3-5 times a week. I was riding on “the beater” it’s big enough you don’t need fins and can paddle with your arms. In a few weeks I was actually catching 5’ waves and loving every second. I also made it a point to use the stairs at work everyday, though it took 2-3 months before I could step down stairs normally.
Be obsessively determined to surf again. You CAN make a full recovery, but you cannot slack off or you’ll have one big ball of scar tissue. You gotta break up that scar tissue and let it re-grow as healthy tissue. My right leg is almost as flexible as my left now, and I fully believe it’s because I did all I could the first few months after the cast came off.
By the time the hard cast comes off the sharp pain is gone, but you have a new pain to work on, atrophy. Your leg will be so weak and stiff that you won’t believe you can walk, but you need to force yourself to put weight on it. DO THE EXERCISES (toe abc’s). My best advice as a surfer is push yourself to your limits and don’t baby it.
I had surgery 14 days after a spiral fracture. I don't want to scare you (everyone’s injury is different) but in my case the first few weeks after surgery were much more painful than the weeks before. Before surgery my leg hurt every time it moved, but with some vikodin and staying still on the couch there was less pain. After surgery, it just hurt all the time. It is a deep sharp pain that is just always there, sometimes spiking up worse than others.
Sorry to hear about your ankle! Being about a week into this journey, your probably about to experience what I call zombie foot, that’s where your foot looks really nasty, all purple, yellow, gray, and red. don’t worry it’s normal.
update: About 7-8 months since surgery I've been surfing consistently 3-7 times per week in fairly small waves. When the epic heavy swell hit early september I still went out in 7' malibu, but was not really confident yet and didn't catch one good ride. The last two weekends we had some great long period swell at lower trestles and El Porto, and I'm proud to say I'll charge any wave with confidence now, even ones I shouldn't lol.
update: It has been four and a half months since surgery and today I'm finally starting to feel confident on my surfboard. I've been surfing for the past 3 weeks in little 2'-3' waves, 4 times a week.
school comes around in the fall. What I really don't know is if or when I'll be able to surf the heavy slab that I love so much. May be a while before that becomes a reality. Guess I'll have to take it step by step. Good luck in your recovery and hope to see you water at some point!
I forgot my password so I just created a new account.
Good to hear that your foot is getting better. I just got my screw taken out today and it is feeling loads better. I'm already able to stand on one of those balancing balls. It's still tight and all but I'm pretty optimistic about my recovery at this point. Unfortunately I'm away from the ocean right now, but will be back in late September. In the meanwhile, I'll do a bunch of swimming to so that I'm in surfing shape when
and yes, my ankle is noticeably hindering my surfing. It get's really sore in the mornings when I first wake up, but actually feels the best the first few hours after surfing.
Walking on sand is a big part of my exercise. The first three weeks I went boogie boarding maybe 14 times before work and on the weekends. It sounds obsessive but really after every session i felt so much better. Surgery and atrophy had my leg locked in a ball of scar tissue, I need to break that up. 3 weeks after the cast came off I tried surfing and now I've been back riding waves for almost two weeks! I think I'm healing pretty fast considering what I did to it.
Hi Johan, sorry to hear about your leg. I almost had the screw through both bones too, but instead they put a small pin on the opposite side, with some kind of rope around both leg bones.
My philosophy on rehabilitation is to gently exercise and build the muscle. The day after my cast came off I bought "the beater" by catch surf. It's bigger than a boogie board so you can paddle with your arms, but not a surfboard where I'd be tempted to do something stupid :)
Hey, I broke my ankle and had surgery on 5/3/2011 and amd still in my fucking boot. Anyways, i had 6 screws plus an extra one that goes all the way through. I get that screw out next week hopefully. It looks like you surf, have you been back in the water yet and if you have how long did it take and how did it feel? Does your ankle noticebly hinder your surfing?
@higginsrob Hi Rob! thanks a lot for sharing your experience. I think that my case was something similar as yours. Actually im with cast that will be off on March 2. Hopefully the surgery was succesfulll and my ankle is feeling pretty well. After March I'll buy an indoboard and some other things for exercising my ankle. Thanks again Rob for being a motivation for me, take care bro!
BoricuanDaddy 3 weeks ago
Hi Rob! im your position right now... last week I fractured my ankle with my skateboard & actually im waiting for a surgery on friday. I would like you to share with me all the process during and after the surgery. Im very worried because Im a surfer like you and this will be my first surgery of my life...well im happy to find someone like me so, hope to keep talking with you.. Sorry for my english, im from Puerto Rico
BoricuanDaddy 1 month ago
I hope this helps, try to stay positive, and GOOD LUCK!
higginsrob 1 month ago
Another thing to get ready for is a sharp pain when all the blood rushes to your leg, putting it down after it’s been elevated for a long time. I think that lasted about a month or two after surgery. I also had weird nerve ending things happening, where I would touch my leg near the metal plate and my toes would feel the strangest sensation like a small spark. It took months for that to go away.
higginsrob 1 month ago
(I DON’T RECOMMEND THIS FOR MOST PEOPLE!) I did not go to physical therapy. I created my own schedule that was basically in the ocean almost every day, and boogie boarding 3-5 times a week. I was riding on “the beater” it’s big enough you don’t need fins and can paddle with your arms. In a few weeks I was actually catching 5’ waves and loving every second. I also made it a point to use the stairs at work everyday, though it took 2-3 months before I could step down stairs normally.
higginsrob 1 month ago
Be obsessively determined to surf again. You CAN make a full recovery, but you cannot slack off or you’ll have one big ball of scar tissue. You gotta break up that scar tissue and let it re-grow as healthy tissue. My right leg is almost as flexible as my left now, and I fully believe it’s because I did all I could the first few months after the cast came off.
higginsrob 1 month ago
By the time the hard cast comes off the sharp pain is gone, but you have a new pain to work on, atrophy. Your leg will be so weak and stiff that you won’t believe you can walk, but you need to force yourself to put weight on it. DO THE EXERCISES (toe abc’s). My best advice as a surfer is push yourself to your limits and don’t baby it.
higginsrob 1 month ago
I had surgery 14 days after a spiral fracture. I don't want to scare you (everyone’s injury is different) but in my case the first few weeks after surgery were much more painful than the weeks before. Before surgery my leg hurt every time it moved, but with some vikodin and staying still on the couch there was less pain. After surgery, it just hurt all the time. It is a deep sharp pain that is just always there, sometimes spiking up worse than others.
higginsrob 1 month ago
@BoricuanDaddy
Sorry to hear about your ankle! Being about a week into this journey, your probably about to experience what I call zombie foot, that’s where your foot looks really nasty, all purple, yellow, gray, and red. don’t worry it’s normal.
higginsrob 1 month ago
update: About 7-8 months since surgery I've been surfing consistently 3-7 times per week in fairly small waves. When the epic heavy swell hit early september I still went out in 7' malibu, but was not really confident yet and didn't catch one good ride. The last two weekends we had some great long period swell at lower trestles and El Porto, and I'm proud to say I'll charge any wave with confidence now, even ones I shouldn't lol.
higginsrob 3 months ago
update: It has been four and a half months since surgery and today I'm finally starting to feel confident on my surfboard. I've been surfing for the past 3 weeks in little 2'-3' waves, 4 times a week.
higginsrob 7 months ago
school comes around in the fall. What I really don't know is if or when I'll be able to surf the heavy slab that I love so much. May be a while before that becomes a reality. Guess I'll have to take it step by step. Good luck in your recovery and hope to see you water at some point!
adrenalineimpulse 7 months ago
johan here,
I forgot my password so I just created a new account.
Good to hear that your foot is getting better. I just got my screw taken out today and it is feeling loads better. I'm already able to stand on one of those balancing balls. It's still tight and all but I'm pretty optimistic about my recovery at this point. Unfortunately I'm away from the ocean right now, but will be back in late September. In the meanwhile, I'll do a bunch of swimming to so that I'm in surfing shape when
adrenalineimpulse 7 months ago
and yes, my ankle is noticeably hindering my surfing. It get's really sore in the mornings when I first wake up, but actually feels the best the first few hours after surfing.
higginsrob 7 months ago
Walking on sand is a big part of my exercise. The first three weeks I went boogie boarding maybe 14 times before work and on the weekends. It sounds obsessive but really after every session i felt so much better. Surgery and atrophy had my leg locked in a ball of scar tissue, I need to break that up. 3 weeks after the cast came off I tried surfing and now I've been back riding waves for almost two weeks! I think I'm healing pretty fast considering what I did to it.
higginsrob 7 months ago
Hi Johan, sorry to hear about your leg. I almost had the screw through both bones too, but instead they put a small pin on the opposite side, with some kind of rope around both leg bones.
My philosophy on rehabilitation is to gently exercise and build the muscle. The day after my cast came off I bought "the beater" by catch surf. It's bigger than a boogie board so you can paddle with your arms, but not a surfboard where I'd be tempted to do something stupid :)
higginsrob 7 months ago
Hey, I broke my ankle and had surgery on 5/3/2011 and amd still in my fucking boot. Anyways, i had 6 screws plus an extra one that goes all the way through. I get that screw out next week hopefully. It looks like you surf, have you been back in the water yet and if you have how long did it take and how did it feel? Does your ankle noticebly hinder your surfing?
johan139111 7 months ago