The Green Girl Went To The Doctor

The Green Girl finally gave in and went to get her ankle checked out by a doctor today. Truth be told, a big part of me just wanted to wait until after the Surf City USA Half Marathon in case it was bad news.

As soon as my doctor heard me in the waiting room, he yelled, 'What did you do to yourself now and when is your next race?' So he knows me well.

Luckily, he doesn't think it's a stress fracture. I'm an unemployed Green Girl right now and I was really hoping I wouldn't have to pay out of pocket for an x-ray. Like my self-diagnosis, he said I sprained the medial (inner) ankle ligaments.

He recommended I tape up my ankle and try going for a really short run. If the tape doesn't bother me, he wants me to tape before the race on Sunday. He said taping will give me much more support than an ankle wrap.

Until my ankle is fully healed, the doctor said he wants me to tape every single time I go kickboxing since I kickbox barefoot. I did my very first taping job tonight before I headed to the dojo. He wants me to ice after every workout even if I don't feel any discomfort. In addition, he wants me to start doing isometric exercises on a weekly basis for both my ankles to strengthen them.

The Green Girl Turns To Homeopathy

To help speed up the recovery of her sprained ankle, the Green Girl is using Peaceful Mountain Tendon Rescue.

The Tendon Rescue gel contains comfrey, arnica, rosemary, aloe, potassium sorbate, originox, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E. According to the website, the herbs in Tendon Rescue have traditionally been used to repair damaged tendons, ligaments and soft tissues. The directions recommend using the product three times daily.

The gel has a brownish tint but doesn't stain my skin when I rub it in. It smells like a multivitamin tablet.

I want my ankle to be as strong as possible for the Surf City USA Half Marathon this Sunday.

The Green Girl Sprained Her Right Ankle

Bleh. I twisted my right ankle pretty badly in my boot camp class this morning.

I was doing those sideways suicides where you squat and move as quickly as you can back and forth. As I was trying to speed along, I tripped and twisted my right foot. Pain shot from my ankle up to my lower back but I kept on going.

According to my self-diagnosis, I am suffering from an eversion injury because my foot twisted outwards as I tried to "glide" across the gym. I believe I sprained the inner ligament which is called the deltoid. The good news is that it doesn't appear to be swollen and I am able to limp around so it's most likely the mildest kind of sprain, a Grade I. I've been icing it and wrapping it when I walk. I hope it heals up quickly.

The Green Girl and Her Knee

The pain in my right knee has settled to just above the kneecap. Per my doctor's instructions, I've been alternating between heat and cold.

The cold seems to make it hurt more while the heat actually gets rid of all the pain. My knee was killing me last night after I ended up standing on it for a couple of hours. I iced it when I got home and then used my heating pad with the cute camouflage cover Whimsie Dots custom made for me.

When I woke up this morning, I gingerly walked around the apartment and when I didn't feel any pain, I headed to my boot camp class a half hour early so I could get a good stretch in. After stretching, it didn't hurt but it did get really stiff.

I was able to make it through the entire class but I didn't push myself like I normally do. My goal was to finish the class without further aggravating my knee.

Tomorrow, I'm going to kickbox in the morning and then try out my very first spin class. Hopefully, I'll be able to do my interval run on Tuesday. At the very least, I hope I can get a good 3-5 mile run in.

Green Girl Down

The Green Girl's first tempo run didn't go so well.

When I got to the track, the cross country team was practicing. I watched their bodies glide across the track as I stretched.

I assessed the situation and decided I should be okay as long as I stuck to the outer lane. My plan was to do a 15 minute easy warm-up followed by 15 minutes of hard running with a 15 minute cool down. I started jogging. My body felt tired again, just like it did last week. I backed off and slowed down even more. I had jogged about 3/4ths of the track when a sharp pain suddenly shot through my right leg. It was below the knee on the inner part of the leg. I immediately stopped jogging and walked slowly. I didn't feel any more pain but I didn't want to push it.

As soon as I got home, I iced it. My knee was a little sore on and off the rest of the day.

When I woke up this morning, it hurt too much for me to go to kickboxing. I attended my very first aqua aerobics class instead. I also swam a couple of laps in the pool afterwards. It was the first time I swam a full lap in about 20 years.

I don't have a job right now so I don't have any health insurance. I went to see my doctor today and he twisted and contorted my knee and he didn't feel I did any serious damage to it. He did transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and ultrasound. After that, I was able to walk out of the office pain free.

Hours later, my knee is hurting again. I'll continue to ice it. My plan is to take the rest of the week off from running. Hopefully, I'll be able to run again next week.