Ouch!

[mdlbear]

Tried the Futuro ankle stabilizer again today, this time with the Merrill slip-ons. Had to loosen it a little because of twinges in my calf muscles, but it seemed to work OK right up until I went through a section of sidewalk that was sharply tilted in the direction that put additional pressure on the inside edge of the braced foot. Ouch! Same pain as yesterday, only worse.

Verdict: they'll probably be just fine for places like airports and conventions: indoor spaces with a level surface. Forget it for outdoors. Also, they're not really what I need.

What I need is pressure across the top of that foot, basically holding down the place where I sprained it a couple of years ago. My guess is that something in there has partially torn loose and needs to be held in place to keep it from hurting. Mid-height shoes and ankle braces apply that kind of pressure. The adjustable but soft-sided Futuro brace I bought a couple of weeks ago works moderately well in that respect, but has bulky rolled edges and doesn't apply quite enough pressure. I'll keep looking; there's an Ace adjustable brace at home -- I think Colleen bought that one -- that looks promising.

Comments

[bercilakslady.livejournal.com]

Try one of the ankle braces that is a long strip of brace material with a loop for your heel on one end. You put your heel in the loop, wrap the brace around foot and ankle, and then it velcros to itself.

It's comfy, and helps me when my ankle spazzes.

[mdlbear]

Hmm... that sounds plausible. At first I was thinking it was similar to the older Futuro brace, but that has two velcro tabs that cross one another, and have thick edges in places where I don't want them.

[obsessivewoman.livejournal.com]

You may want to see a podiatrist - just to be sure that nothing is too wrong and to see if physical therapy is needed.

Before we had to give up on just the brace, I was told to go get a ankle brace at one of the sport's equipments stores - like the one near the Milk Pail (Sport's Authority?). I was told to look for the highest level of brace that fits in a nromal shoe but is tied, not velcroed. like http://www.target.com/McDavid-Lightweight-Ankle-Brace/dp/B0013XLKA2/sr=1-6/qid=1220124544/ref=sr_1_6/601-9003921-8694511?ie=UTF8&rh=k%3Aankle%20support%20braces&page=1 again be sure it's rated for high level of support.

Good luck. I know what it's like.

[mdlbear]

Thanks for the tip.

Only thing I'd worry about is the pain in the ball of my foot, which appears to be due to insufficient side-to-side range of motion.