A young man in his mid-twenties came to see me last July for ankle pain. He used to compete in figure skating until he injured his ankle on a bad landing during a jump. He had torn 2 ligaments in his ankle and had to undergo surgery to reattach the ligament and clean bone fragments in the ankle. Four years earlier, he had fractured the external malleolus of the same ankle and, according to doctors, had recovered 100%.
After his surgery, he could continue to skate and compete for a year, but his ankle was causing constant pain. The pain was at times medial, lateral or frontal. The pain forced him to stop competing completely. He saw a surgeon a little over a year after the first surgery, but he did not see any need for further surgery, despite the pain the young skater was experiencing.
At the time of the first consultation, two and a half years after the initial accident, the patient had pain in the medial aspect of the ankle (Shangqiu / Sp5 acupuncture point) which radiated upwards on the leg. The pain was mostly present in the morning and faded after a few minutes of activity. However, it was very intense during skate jumps, at the moment of impulse and the landing.
The treatments consisted mainly of distal acupuncture (Balancing Method, also known as Dr. Tan’s method), local points (at the site of pain) with electrical stimulation, tuina massage and applications of a natural liniment based on Chinese medicine. The day after the first treatment, he already felt a significant improvement and went skating without feeling pain or discomfort. We did 4 treatments on a weekly basis.
At the end of this series of treatments, the patient no longer felt any pain in his ankle and was able to resume regular training, including jumps. A little over a month after the last treatment, the patient hurt his ankle again, at the same place as the previous injury. So we did another treatment to treat that pain. A month and a half after this fifth treatment, the patient was training on a regular basis without feeling any pain and returned to consult in preparation for the Provincial Championships. He had decided compete again. He did well in the Provincial Championship and went on the the Canadian Championship, where he also did very well.
If an injury prevents you from playing your favorite sport or if your performance is not as good as it should, contact us at Sports Acupuncture Mtl to make an appointment. Acupuncture can be an important contribution to your athletic performance. Do not hesitate to consult.