Tony Finau... Ankle Dislocation! He is now my second favorite golfer!!

When Tony Finau hit the Par 3 Hole in One Contest at the Masters this week his celebration caused for jubilation for his achievement, that quickly turned into horror by the spectators and Tony himself.  The video below from ESPN shows Tony Finau discussing his phenomenal day of golf at the Masters after possibly dislocating his ankle.




As Tony's excitement for nailing this shot in one try turns into the 100 meter dash, it quickly turns bad as he turns twisting and we see his foot go one direction and his ankle go the other. Yikes! I'm a foot doctor and even I find this difficult to watch,  But what comes next in this video might be even more shocking, Tony leans over to his left side, uses the ground to push his foot back in the correct direction and stabilizes his ankle with counter pressure to pop that ankle back in place like a robot or something. What? Insane right! Then he gets up and not with the speed he made his way down the fairway but walks back toward the tee box! I have watched football and basketball players dislocate their ankles but they don't get up like this. It was incredible! They literally could use this video in podiatry and orthopedic residencies on how to relocate an ankle.

At first when I heard the news of Tony Finau's ankle dislocation but then saw he played the next day and was leading, I immediately thought he couldn't have possibly dislocated his ankle.  But then I watched the video and it looks like it to me! He apparently had a MRI that shows no structural damage he said, but it looks like his soft tissue could not have been spared. There he was there at the Masters the very next day crushing it on the golf course.

I know in my practice if we are treating an ankle dislocation conservatively, especially if the patient is a super hero and has relocated it himself and there is no associated fracture, we wouldn't recommended golfing the next day, or the next day. Our goal would be control the swelling and having the patient ice and elevate as much as humanly possible for a week or more and an anti-inflammatory by mouth for a week or two.  They would be made non weight bearing but given a pneumatic cam-walking boot for touch down with crutches or a knee walker.  This type of injury can require repair of the soft tissues affected, but even with out surgery they are usually in a cam walking boot for 6 to 8 weeks.

So to see Tony out golfing the next day really made me rub my eyes in disbelief!  Could I have imagined his injury was worse than it really was? No I watched the video again, we all saw it.  So it does beg the question of what is the doctor doing? I'm hoping for Tony's sake he is just icing, wrapped really well by a good trainer and maybe on a steroid by mouth.(again this would not be my recommended treatment regimen)  This is in no way, shape or form ideal, but maybe when you make to the big show like the Masters Golf Tournament you do whatever it takes to compete.

As we have one little golfer in the family, I explained to her what happened(I didn't want to show my 12 year old the video) and I told her to not run while golfing. She replied "Mom, I golf so I don't have to run!".  Which is even funnier because our oldest daughter is a runner and youngest a soccer player! She is my favorite golfer but now I have a second favorite golfer in Tony Finau!!

My hopes and prayers are for a fantastic rest of the Masters for Tony Finau.  I have seen a lot of things in my 44 years here on this Earth, but watching him pop that ankle back in place and then play like that... he is amazing! I also wish him a speedy recovery because he's going to need a lot of rest, ice and elevation after this!

If you would like to learn more about ankle sprains, the less serious injury that can happen when your foot rolls under the ankle follow the link here to learn more:  http://centerforankleandfoot.blogspot.com/2016/12/ankle-sprain-how-do-i-treat-ankle-sprain.html

Michele McGowan
3190 Citrus Tower Blvd Ste A
Clermont, FL 34711
352-242-2502

Ankle Dislocation is not a quick recovery,that being said Robert Griffin III probable in Week 9 of NFL season!!!!! We will see.

First and foremost, I do not consider myself a negative Nellie, but there is no way RG3 could have had an ankle dislocation if he is expected to play this Week 9 of the NFL.

I was sad to see the Washington Redskins, Robert Griffin III, get hurt on Week 2  against the Jaguars this season. As the MRI reports came back that week, there were murmurs of relief that nothing was broke. I challenge that notion that it may have been better to have a fracture.  When someone has a fracture their is a predictable time period in which it will take for that individual to get better.  But when someone dislocates a load bearing joint like the ankle, I believe there is much more concern for the future of their athletic career.

If you are not aware of how serious of an injury this is refer to the ankle illustration.  Notice the ligaments that are around the ankle, these tiny little ligaments have a lot of responsibility.  The anterior talofibular, calcaneofibular and the posterior talofibular are crucial to the stability to the outside of the ankle.  On the inside of the ankle we have the Deltoid ligament for medial stability.  The ligaments just mentioned above are basically, in layman terms: the connectors of the foot to the ankle.  When these connectors are disrupted with a violent force, like the one RG3 supposedly had, the recovery is long and not always very straight forward.

When you look at the ankle joint itself without the ligaments, muscles, tendons and skin, you can truly appreciate its' fragility.  It is made up of three bones: the tibia, the fibula and the talus.  For perspective sake, the talus is about the size of a 3/4 eaten apple.  It is small but does so much for ankle and foot stability.  Disrupt the ligaments attached to the talus and your suffer a pretty significant injury. One, that for a football player on the professional level, may very well be season ending and can be career ending.

This is why we were so puzzled by the rush to return to playing this season for the Washington Redskins injured quarterback Robert Griffin III.  This is an injury protocol that is setting a very bad precedent for future NFL players(Dr. Henne would argue with me that this is already set due to the amount of money on line for both team and players).  Players in the future with this type of violent injury may feel compelled to rush back only to lead to the early exit from their NFL career.

I can only speculate that if RG3 steps on that field today and is running and passing like the good old days, that he indeed suffered a very severe ankle sprain but not an ankle dislocation.  Bad ankle sprains require time off like RG3 had.  A bad ankle sprain after a period of recovery can be taped and back on the field with somewhat less of concern of re-injury compared to the diagnosis of ankle dislocation.

Treatment for an ankle dislocation with no fracture and no impingement of soft tissue is often conservative, with a period of non-weight bearing followed by gradual increase in activity is a walking boot with physical therapy.  Physiologically, 8 weeks for the ligaments to heal with a bad ankle sprain.  In the case of the ankle dislocation the question of future instability arise especially with such an early return after such and injury.

The game today of RG3's team the Washington Redskins against the Minnesota Vikings will be the most anticipated game of the day in our house.(Mainly, because we have a bet about RG3 actually playing or not)  I am excited to see RG3's return and wish him the best of luck.  He is available in my Fantasy Football league and at the first sign of him playing well I hope to be the first person to add him as my backup quarterback, I have Cam Newton and he gave me only 18 points on Thursday, so I'm desperate!  UGH!!!

If you are interested in learning more about foot and ankle injuries go to the Center for Ankle and Foot Care at http://centeranklefootcare.com/ We are constantly updating our webpage to better help you understand your foot and ankle problem.  We also make suggestions for devices to maybe help you foot pain but they should in no way take the place of a doctors visit if you are experiencing pain!

Michele McGowan, DPM Owner and doctor of the Center for Ankle and Foot Care in Clermont Florida and Fellow of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons.