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.

Stress Fractures: Week 5 Fantasy Football Ankle And Foot Injury Report

Stress Fractures

 A big deal in the NFL. 

 Simple problem if you have the TIME to heal.

         We are 5  weeks into the NFL season and stress fractures are ruining NFL players and fantasy football players seasons.  In the last 4 weeks the following players have had issues related to new or  old stress fractures: Michael Crabtree, Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Julio Jones, Manti Te'o,  and Marvin Jones.  So what are these "stress fractures" and what is the big deal?

I see stress fractures in the office almost weekly. They are very common and more importantly easy to treat!  The difficulty is in getting better.  Healing is 90% up to what the patient does and 10% what the patient is.  What the patient does (taking it easy) after the injury is often more important than who the patient is (healthy).  Before we get too far ahead of ourselves we should probably describe a stress fracture.


Two broken bones.
The one on the right is a "healing" stress fracture
The one on the left is "newer"

The best example of a stress fracture is to grab a branch from a  LIVE shrub or tree and bend it.  You will hear a snap, but the branch will stay together.  This is what happens to bones in the foot.  If too much stress is placed on the bone it will snap, but not fall apart.  That is why stress fractures are often not seen on X-rays.  The foot will start to hurt all the same.  If you keep bending the branch back and forth, eventually it will snap in two.  Likewise, if you keep "stressing" the foot (running, jumping, walking) the foot bone may also snap in two.

The treatment is SIMPLE.  Stop stressing your foot!  I typically give the patient a fracture boot and say, "If you wear this all the time, except for sleeping and bathing, you should be healed in 1-2 months.  BUT YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT EASY!  If you get the boot and pretend your foot is not broken and run around all day long it may take 2-6 months.  If you only wear the boot "sometimes" it may never heal or get worse.

The issue with football players is that they, "have to go to work"  aka play football.  This is why it is so difficult for them.  Often times surgery is done to help get them back playing faster.  Screws are often used to help protect the area until the bone heals.  This is rarely needed for patients in my office as they are not often professional athletes that need to play ASAP.  


A surgery may also need to be done if the bone does not heal and the patient develops a non-union.  Most of the time this is caused when the patient does not "take it easy" or wear the boot.  Operating on this type of person has additional challenges.  If the person did not listen to the doctor before surgery what makes you think that the will "take it easy" after surgery.  Extensive counseling, bone simulators and some good luck are often needed to heal the injury.


Most of the time stress fractures are caused by an increase in physical activity.  Either too much of a "old activity" or starting a "new activity."  Athletes will get these injuries from increasing the "old activity".  They are playing too much, too hard and over stressing their body.  More often, I see the starting a "new activity" causing stress fractures.  This is the person who is starting to get in shape or starts a a new exercise activity.  An example would be starting running 5 miles a day.  It is safer to start a half mile a day and increasing a half mile a week until you reach your goal of 5 miles. This often occurs to individuals who "take a month off". When start exercising again they need to slowly progress to their normal activities. 

There has been a few studies that show orthotics "may" help prevent stress fractures.  I do not recommend orthotics to prevent initial stress fractures as most often corrected training is all that is needed.  I do use orthotics in "special cases".  These are certain patients with repeat injuries.  This may be caused by diabetes, osteoporosis, and even in long distance runners.