[pct-l] Sprained Ankle

[Steve McAllister]

Regarding:
"He has stayed in a motel for 3 days and tried to carry on today but
it has taken him an hour to walk a mile so he has turned back."

A very common injury. Many people have done this, often early in the hike.

The options that I know of:
1) Pick up an ankle brace  from the drug store and after few day of
rest, walk with it. Start out easy and then gradually start hiking
again. Eventually the brace can go, but be aware that sometimes it can
take several months for the ankle to fully heal, depending on ones age
and the amount of damage done. Too much rest can be as bad as not
enough. See a sports doctor.

2) Instead of an ankle brace, wear a pair of high or medium high light
boots. They make medium high boots that are almost as light as trail
runners. He may want to stick with those for a month or more as well.
This is what I did for a three months as I kept twisting my ankles
with trail runners.

stevie



-- 
"His eyes were cold.  As cold as the bitter winter snow that was
falling outside.  Yes, cold and therefore difficult to chew..."
 -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich