Dreaming of another Camino

[CaminoKate0214]

This past summer I hiked 100 miles along the Camino Frances, and loved every minute of it, even when I experienced heat exhaustion, and immediately turned to the forum for help. Thank you all. I'm dreaming of doing another Camino perhaps next summer, definitely in the future at some point. It's in my blood now, and it calls to me!

However, a 30+ year old injury flared up quite unexpectedly. When I was 12 years old, I fell in a hole and landed on my ankle. It was the worst sprain possible without a break. Daily hours of walking made my ankle get really tight and sore. Before this, I never had a flare-up, probably because I had never hiked before, just walked, and never so much for so long. My questions are these:

1) Has anyone else experienced a flare-up, expected or not, of an old injury, especially of the feet or ankle or knee variety?
2) How did you treat it? So far I've gotten ultrasound (twice), which helped instantly and enormously. I'm active so I have not iced it or elevated it much which was recommended after ultrasound. That would be pretty easy to do on the Camino after walking is over. Here at home, not so much. Life is more complex here, much simpler on the Camino.
3) Is there anything I can bring from home that doesn't weigh much, and that would help inevitable swelling? Maybe something like a re-freezable ice pack? My podiatrist told me to bring two ankle braces: one for the left, always-weak ankle and one for the other side if I start over-compensating.

As always, any advice, suggestions, thoughts, etc. are welcome.

Cheers, Katie

 

[AZgirl]

It's easy for the camino' s to get in blood, I am glad you had a great time.

I don't have personal experience, but a pilgrim I walked with for a couple of days had a knee brace, and at breaks in bars he would put it in a bag and ask for it to be put in the freezer for awhile to help swelling.

 

[Texas Walker]

This past summer I hiked 100 miles along the Camino Frances, and loved every minute of it, even when I experienced heat exhaustion, and immediately turned to the forum for help. Thank you all. I'm dreaming of doing another Camino perhaps next summer, definitely in the future at some point. It's in my blood now, and it calls to me!

However, a 30+ year old injury flared up quite unexpectedly. When I was 12 years old, I fell in a hole and landed on my ankle. It was the worst sprain possible without a break. Daily hours of walking made my ankle get really tight and sore. Before this, I never had a flare-up, probably because I had never hiked before, just walked, and never so much for so long. My questions are these:

1) Has anyone else experienced a flare-up, expected or not, of an old injury, especially of the feet or ankle or knee variety?
2) How did you treat it? So far I've gotten ultrasound (twice), which helped instantly and enormously. I'm active so I have not iced it or elevated it much which was recommended after ultrasound. That would be pretty easy to do on the Camino after walking is over. Here at home, not so much. Life is more complex here, much simpler on the Camino.
3) Is there anything I can bring from home that doesn't weigh much, and that would help inevitable swelling? Maybe something like a re-freezable ice pack? My podiatrist told me to bring two ankle braces: one for the left, always-weak ankle and one for the other side if I start over-compensating.

As always, any advice, suggestions, thoughts, etc. are welcome.

Cheers, Katie

I'd hate to try and make the icing thing work on the trail. But perhaps I'm ignorant and unobservant and there are ways to do it...bring your own Ziplock icebag holder and use the common freezer/fridge to chill the bag?
Have you tried daily stretches for your ankle?