Dilemma--Minor Injury

[ChiSaint]

Hi all. I've been a lurker on these boards for a few years but decided to post today to get some opinions. I started training in BJJ about a month and a half ago. On monday, while sparring, I sprained/strained my ankle. The sparring was started from the kneeling position and my teammate sort of tackled me. While I was falling backwards, my foot caught on the mat and ankle bent backwards. I heard a pop and temporarily stopped sparring. It hurt some at the time but not too bad so I continued to roll and finished practice. After practice, I iced the ankle.

The next day, the ankle had swollen up pretty good. There is some minor bruising/discoloration on the side of the ankle. The ankle is tender but can support weight with only minor pain (unless I flex the ankle down, in which case the pain is somewhat more severe).

I was considering going to training tonight. My plan was to use an wrap to stabilize the ankle. However, I don't think I can do the full warmup b/c jumping jacks and running seem like they would aggravate the injury.

So, I guess my question is, should I attempt to participate in class and see how the ankle goes or should I take the day off and let it heal. I know it's sort of a personal thing but I wanted other people's reactions to whether it is a good idea to train through the pain. Thanks

 

[Zankou]

Definitely don't train, IMHO.

You only train through the pain when it is a chronic condition that you would have to lose a ton of training time to if you waited for it to heal. A couple days is nothing.

Anytime you have a substantial strain or damage to a joint, give it at least a couple days. Injury avoidance is an invaluable skill to advancing in BJJ.

 

[Gsoares2***]

Avoid training for now - especially because your not experienced enough to protect your injury and continue to train.

You dont want to get back on the mats right away only to injure it worse and be forced to stay off the mats longer. Just take your time and watch some dvd's or soemthing to keep your motivation peeked.

Just wait till you atleast gain some felxibility back without pain. If you do end up training just pull half guard and avoid any position that could compromise the safety of your ankle.

Take it easy, and see a doc if the pain gets worse - or you feel like its not getting better.

Injuries are going to best you every time if you let them, and they will be your toughest opponent by far on the road to a blackbelt.

 

[mattmania843]

My instructor always stresses when your on hte knees NEVER TO TACKLE THE GUY, and when you have someones back whenthere turtled, never fall straight back, u can fuck up ure ankle erally bad that way.

 

[KevinKurgis]

see a doctor b4 anything, but one pop usually means nothing, but be safe not sorry

 

[koreankid6413]

the main thing is listen to your body. Personally i would tell you to do what you can but dont do too much because that's what i would do with most minor injuries. If it hurts theres no shame in calling it quits and not working out at all today. We all respond in different ways to injuries and to top it all off i dont have your injury right now so i dont know how severe the injury is. Mostly i would say dont do the whole workout but do what you can, maybe stuff from guard and mount and you know stuff like that but thats just my personal preference. If you dont think you can just stay home and ice it

 

[ChiSaint]

Thanks to those who gave advice. I ultimately decided to take the night off from class. My ankle continued to be swollen and became more bruised and discolored. I finally went into a doctor today. After examining the foot and x-raying it, the doc does not think there are any breaks (they're sending the x-rays to a radiologist to check on one slightly questionable area). However, in his words, "You sprained the hell out of it." He fitted me for an air cast and told me I shouldn't roll for at least 4 weeks. DAMNIT!

So now I wanted to get suggestions on if there is anything y'all recommend I do in the time off. I was planning on going to class tonight and watching everyone else train/roll. I figure that since I'm so new, watching class (even if I can't participate) will be beneficial. Are there other things you recommend? Buying DVDs? Certain drills that wouldn't put too much pressure on the ankle? Any advice would help as I'm pretty depressed to be told that my new hobby is going to be put on hold for at least a month (or however long it takes until the ankle feels more stable). Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[Agent Zero]

I would definitely not train until you can do a full class at full speed (going half speed when others are going full speed leads to more injuries in my experience) but I would definitely attend class to watch and learn the techniques being taught that night. You won't be able to use it immediately, but you will learn something.