UKH

I managed to break my tibia, fibia and some bones in my ankle a number of years ago and the corrective surgery resulted in a reduction of ankle mobility. Now I'm running fairly regularly I find that I'm regularly straining my calf. Popular advice is to improve ankle mobility but that's not going to happen.

What, if anything, can I do to avoid this injury?

In reply to localboy: What does your local physiotherapist say

In reply to wbo2:

He said my lower leg muscles were too weak to cope with the strain of running. He's an avid runner too so I thought he'd know what he was talking about. He had me on a regime to build up strength but even after 4 months of daily exercises I strained it again and so I'm wondering if the mechanical limitations are just too great. I'm hoping that there's something else (orthotic, change of gait, etc.) that might help.

In reply to localboy:  There are ways and means but they can also fail, or rather , not fix the problem very well.  Have you told him it's happened again? What sort of exercises did he prescribe - I assume wobble board and such.

 Does he think the mobility is gone, or it can be rebuilt?

Also, how much running can you do and not strain the calf? 

In reply to localboy:

Have you tried goblet squats with a dumbell/kettlebell? My ankle mobility was pretty shocking too and these have helped me a great deal. Start light and gradually increase the weight and keep good form. Lots of info online about programming them into workouts etc. 

In reply to wbo2:

Or podiatrist?

In reply to localboy:

Stretching, depending on which muscle in the calf, they attach to very long tendons / ligament running right down under the foot in some cases, improved flexibility will reduce risk of a strain. Warm up, right shoes, inner soles might help too. A good sports physio and or podiatrist might be worthy a visit for a second opinion. 

In reply to localboy:

It's not very helpful but I (with poor ankle mobility for a healthy person if you see what I mean) find I mostly strain my calves when running fast. Are you able/willing to run slower than currently?

I wonder if a shoe with a large drop would help? 

In reply to localboy: go back to your physio and get an update.   Suggestions might help, might make it worse.

Also bear in mind that rebuilding after a big injury will take months , rather than weeks.   You may well have a new gait, and atrophied muscles from the layoff, so ask him about timeframes

In reply to localboy:

Worth considering if you've got oa starting up in the joint? Sounds likely. If so, I'd wonder if running will progress the OA faster....IE, wear out your cartilage quicker. I've got a maligned ankle and I got oa. I did loads of running. I don't think the running was bad as such but I think if I'd switched to non concussive stuff like cycling, my ankle would have lasted longer before severe OA. Your ankle cartilage may have abit of a life span ticking down as it were. Hard to stop the running tho if you love doin it. 

In reply to localboy:

I've found also, depending how damaged you're feeling, that paying to see a surgeon privately to find out what's going on and what options are. X-rays or even CT may help alot in letting you know where your heading. 

In reply to wbo2:

I've not been back since the last round of physio as it was getting better. It seems that I get so far and then the load is too much. I either try to go too fast or too soon after other exercise.

The exercises were more strength based. He's fairly confident that mobility won't/can't improve owing to the metalwork.

The distance varies depending on what I've done recently. If if not done anything recently I can easily do 10k+ but on a day after I might not even manage 2k before it goes.

In reply to JohnO1978:

I've not tried goblet squats and I'm not sure that I could with the plate and pins in my leg/ankle.

In reply to ExiledScot:

Stretching does seem to stave off injury the longest. I tend to do two separate calf stretches, hamstring and quad stretches. I do these immediately after running and hold each one for 30s.

Are there any missing that you can think of?

In reply to tlouth7:

I did try running slower but that was surprisingly hard. I just couldn't get a rythym and felt like I was lolloping along.

I'm not sure what "a longer drop" means. Is that a rocker sole?

In reply to localboy:

https://runrepeat.com/uk/guides/heel-to-toe-drop

In reply to wbo2:

The injury was 18 years ago and I'd been able to run infrequent long runs over the years but during lockdown 1.0 I was running more regularly (but shorter distances) and that cumulative stress seems to have been too much. Since then it's gone 6-7 times with the longest period without injury being earlier this year when I managed 6 months of exercises and building up distance again until it went 4 weeks ago on a 3.5km flat run

In reply to im off:

Cycling is my primary sport and may be the culprit behind my injuries as it may have allowed atrophy and so destabilised my leg. Cycling does not seem to be affected when I can't run which supports this theory.

In reply to mountainbagger:

Sounds like a higher heel drop might help. Thanks for the link as I wasn't previously aware of that being a thing. Now I need to find out what my current shoes are to see if I can get some bigger drop ones.

In reply to localboy:

No problem! It depends on what you read and also your specific physiology, as to whether a bigger drop is better or not. There's a lot of debate out there generally around good form, barefoot running and so on which is good in theory but not easy to apply in practice without injuring yourself.

In the absence of a good running/movements coach (look up, for example, Shane Benzie as he's done a lot of research on running form), you might be safer with a stability shoe with a bigger drop. For example, Brooks Glycerin GTS (I only mention those because I have a pair for slower recovery runs on roads or trail when it's very dry and I like them).

In reply to localboy:

Hi,

I’d do a lot more stretching than that.
3/4 times a day and really ensure you relax into the stretch…I find a foam roller can help calf strains as well.

In reply to localboy:

Reading through this thread, if you have significant metal work in place, you hopefully will never get the implants to bend and so advice to stretch and increase flexibility may not be appropriate. I would go back to the orthopaedic surgeon as well as the physio. 

Is there is a place for specific shoes (lower drop are often considered more stable but perhaps big cushioned one might be best for you) or insoles? 

Good luck I hope you get sorted.

In reply to localboy:

Cycling can make your hamstrings really tight. Opposite end of the calf muscles from your ankle but stretching these could help. I mainly cycle and it took me ages to work up to running 10k without killing my calfs. I found that a 'good morning' is a good all round stretch for hamstrings (and lower back)

Also, might be worth going to a good running shop where they can look at your gait and give you some advice on shoes / posture etc.

Ps. Is your running on roads or trails? Could try switching if possible and see how it feels. 

In reply to localboy:

I have some reduced ankle mobility from a nasty fell-racing trip 

What helped me was 1) using my toes and ankle to write out the alphabet (yes, really!) and 2) Tom Morrison in general, but specifically this assisted split squat. Getting your knee as far over your toes as you can really helps with ankle mobility and getting someone else to measure how far over the toes the knee goes helps quantify the difference 

youtube.com/watch?v=gx-CSuRFcDQ&

In reply to localboy:

The other thing to add is to practice, for the lack of a better term coming to mind, the 'bazaar squat' -  basically sitting on your heels, with your feet flat on the floor, and armpits somewhere near your knees.  Uncomfortable at first, but very comfortable when everything's loosened up.  Handy for sitting down when there's nowhere to sit too.

In reply to localboy:

IF YOU HAVE LOST ANKLE MOBILITY THE YOU WILL GET CALF STRAINS WHEN YOU RUN UNLESS...YOU REGAIN MOBILITY (KNEE TO WALL STRETCH ETC). IF YOU HAVE LOST MOBILITY DUE TO POST TRAUMATIC ARTHRITIS THEN IT WONT COME BACK, IT WILL GET WORSE.

IF YOU HAVE A RECENT X-RAY THAT SHOWS THE ANKLE IS HEALTHY THEN JUST WORK ON STRETCHING IT, IF IT HAS DEGENERATIVE CHANGES STOP IMPACT SPORTS