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Bounce Back from a Broken Ankle After 50!
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Melody Bowers profile picture
Melody Bowers
Three years ago I went outside to check that my spigots were covered before a pending storm was to descend over Nashville, TN. I slipped on black ice, wedged my running shoe between two pavers, and heard my ankle snap. I had never broken a bone, but I immediately knew the pain was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I screamed so loud my neighbor came over to help me crawl inside. That night the city was covered with 6" of snow and if you know anything about living in the southeast, that much snow equals paralysis! It was six days before I could get to the doctor's office for them to declare fractures on both sides of my ankle joint and for surgery to be recommended. Now, the x-ray of my ankle looks a lot like a fence post someone screwed a bunch of screws into through a metal plate! Before I went into surgery, I went into deep research mode to put together my “Ankle Healing Protocol”. I committed to doing whatever it took to restore full function to my ankle. I was about to turn 50 years old and hadn't lived an active, healthy life thus far just to trigger a cascade effect that would make me feel a lot older than I was. I'm happy to report that I was jogging again in 3 months and can do all my regular yoga poses as I could before surgery. I have since shared this “Protocol” with multiple other people who had similar surgeries and they experienced similar results. Take and apply whatever resonates with you and leave the rest! And as always, use your judgment. Consult your doctor as I am a middle-aged woman trying to lead a happy, healthy life, not a doctor or a physical therapist!
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The Best Props to Support a Broken Ankle While It Heals
 
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Bone-Fortifying Supplements to Help You Heal Faster
 
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Do These Floor Exercises While You Are Recovering From A Broken Ankle

The Best Props to Support a Broken Ankle While It Heals

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These are the props that I would classify as ESSENTIAL at one or more stages of my post-broken ankle recovery journey. This is not the time to be shy, beg or borrow from friends and family if you must! Get your props in order so you can focus on healing.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Bone-Fortifying Supplements to Help You Heal Faster

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Take a deep breath, now visualize breathing out that breath all the way down through your torso, hips, thighs, knees, calves, ankles, and out your toes. Did you have any breath left by the time you got to your feet? Probably not, because we don't breathe that deeply very often. Now, envision how little fresh blood and oxygen are flowing down to your ankle while you are lounging around while recovering from surgery. This visualization allowed me to realize how crucial it was for me to go to great lengths to increase the odds of not only getting fresh blood and oxygen to my ankle to heal, but I wanted to flush out the inflammation, and any dead cells that were taking up space post-surgery that would slow down my recovery. The doctors and physical therapists have very clearly defined jobs to do that are honestly very limited in scope. It's going to be up to you to connect the dots at a larger scale to foster full-spectrum healing! 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Do These Floor Exercises While You Are Recovering From A Broken Ankle

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As an active person who has spent all her adult life running, walking, doing yoga, or playing tennis, eight weeks on one leg felt like an impossible challenge physically and mentally. It taught me to take things one moment at a time and to be VERY thankful for my neighbors, friends and family! Stay active! There are so many floor and chair exercise routines out there now days – make YouTube your best friend. Try to break a sweat every day for at least 10-minutes and enjoy the day when you can use both of your legs again! You'll never take that for granted again!