Advice for bad ankles anyone?

[bossy]

Hi all - I am a big exerciser but have one bad ankle - which "acts up" when I've done too much high-impact aerobics. Basically I get that twinge that says "okay absolutely no more jumping today or something nasty will happen!". Any advice? Some exercises to strengthen them so I can hop around like a bunny? Different shoes? Or just accept that your body parts are just gonna give out and stick to low impact? I would really rather not have it be the latter since the jumping really is great at kicking my heart rate up.

[Gail]

I've hesitated answering this because I really feel it's something for a health care professional, which I am not. And I'm definitely not in any position to intelligently broach the subject of ankle trauma versus high impact aerobics.

What I can tell you is what my physician told me a little over a year ago, when I was trying to strengthen my ankle in preparation for a ski trip several months after I'd broken my ankle. I was encouraged to work on maintaining my balance on tiptoe, slowly working up to doing it on one foot (something I still can't do for long.) Ballet exercises requiring flexing and extension of the foot were also helpful, and I personally found rising on tiptoe, then slowly lowering into a plié, coming back up still on toes then, coming down flat were additional strengtheners.

[This message has been edited by Gail (edited 02-13-2001).]