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For a few weeks I've had a bit of a pain in my ankle when descending bumpy stuff towards the end of a ride. It's right at the front of the ankle and it feels like 2 bones are coming together and it's quite a sharp pain.
I always ride right foot forwards, and as this usually happens when I'm out of the saddle I have tried to ride left foot forward (so my ankle isn't at such an acute angle - but that feels as odd as writing left handed). I also try to angle my foot downwards, which helps, but gawd help me if I unclip.
Last night we did Scruff's Blacky Trail which ends up at the bottom of a hole so it involves a mega climb out (hands and knees job). My ankle kept "yelping", so much so that I even got the sharp pains afterwards when pedalling hard (rare for me, I know...).
So, given that I'm fat (98kg) and old (56) is it likely to be a temporary thing (bit of inflammation) or permanent (arthritis). I don't have any other joint issues.
And would using flat pedals instead of Time Freerides help (because I could use the middle of my foot) or is this just the beginning of the end?
if you're riding into scruff's darkened hole, an ankle is the least of your worries
probably inflamed tendons where they insert into the bone. they might have some calcium deposits if its been a long term thing. aggressive ice cube massage 2 x day. that's aggressive massage, not bloshy ice cubes.
Thank's for that, Tribal. How do I do the aggressive bit. Rubbing, thumping? Lots of Grrr noises or what?
Did you get that job?
rub the icecube into the painful bit until it's melted
no - they gave me the 'you're over-qualified' line... which was true, but i bloody wanted the job
For starters, I've always found the best place for medical advice to be the doctor's!
However, as someone with absolutely shocking ankles there are several possibilities. Could be gout for example - unlikely because not quite the right place, but could be. Or some other arthritic condition. Anti-inflamatories will probably help but I'd ask a doctor first.
Riding toes-down puts you rolled-forward on the bike and might have you falling off and getting a worse injury than the one you are covering. Heels down, always.
A doctor is unlikely to give me advice on flats vs spds though. He might tell me to drink less, lose a stone or two and maybe think about taking up a less demanding pastime.
So will flatties help, and how hard is it to change from spds to flats. (Yes I know one of the pedals has a l/h thread)
Have you ever broken this ankle? I was getting really bad pain in an ankle I'd broken a decade ago. MRI scan showed a bit of bone floating around and torn ligaments. The bit of bone might have been a more recent thing but the ligaments had been torn since the break.
No - but I did break the other one that doesn't hurt. Probably because that's got restricted movement.
Nerve inpingment ? - istr there's one running along the top of the foot, dunno what route it takes to get there...
Amputation is the only cure.
Ive got some decent flatz if you want to borrow to see if they help.
Get a bike fit?
Elimination and see your sports physio and Gp.