w ripley
Contributor
Buy her a DPV!
Fins for bad ankles?
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slingshots are pretty easy on your ankles just put them on setting 1.
I have a shattered ankle that was rebuilt and then anterior ligament detatched with bone fragments floating..... I know how she feels. I also have to spend anywhere from 4 - 6 hours daily in water between pool sessions and sea dives, teaching classes. Force Fins are amazing. I don't feel any resistance at all and I have no ankle pain whatsoever. Even in the our strong currents, no problems.
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gert7to3
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Well, ZenDiver's force Fins experience is compelling.
In general, I think a shorter, lighter, softer fin would be better. It would produce less overall stress throughout your lower legs.
One other suggestion I would make is Zeagle's EZ Travel Fins. You can use any type of foot wear from barefoot to boots (or your ankle brace). They are a fairly soft fin, but can power up with them when the need arises.
Zeagle EZ Travel Finz scuba diving gear at Zeagle Express
In general, I think a shorter, lighter, softer fin would be better. It would produce less overall stress throughout your lower legs.
One other suggestion I would make is Zeagle's EZ Travel Fins. You can use any type of foot wear from barefoot to boots (or your ankle brace). They are a fairly soft fin, but can power up with them when the need arises.
Zeagle EZ Travel Finz scuba diving gear at Zeagle Express
You can save some money over teh force fins by trying out some APS Mantaray fins. I just purchased a pair and I am dumping my old ScubaPro Jet fins (two sizes) now that I have the Manatarays. They are light weight, give great thrust with little effort and the provided straps are very easy to adjust. APS Mantaray Dive Fins
The down side is that they are often on backorder.
The down side is that they are often on backorder.
Hatul
Contributor
Before she even considers changing her fins and what model to move to, she should try to work with her current setup, and as someone said above, slow everything down.
Then she should try to work out what movement is difficult/impossible for her (typically with that sort of injury, sideways movement would be pretty painful). That may (very likely) preclude a frog-style kick, at least for the time being.
Then she should try to decide whether relatively many foot movements against minimal reactive pressure is easier or harder than pushing more slowly and more infrequently against a higher reactive force - that the "soft and floppy" or "more rigid" decision. I'm inclined to think she might do better with very soft floppy fins, even though personally I hate them.
Lastly, given that the bones have knitted but she probably has callouses at the numerous joints that were "frozen" during healing, she should try to decide which type of motion is more effective in pushing against those callouses and trying to break them down.
I've never broken an ankle so I can't say I know exactly what she's going through, but I did break my wrist and went through all of this trying to get back into competitive swimming. I found downhill skiing quite therapeutic, as my wrist was constantly being flexed to the limit and slightly beyond, but because of everything else that was going on I didn't notice. What did the most good was when I was knocked over from behind when ice skating, when I fell on the damaged wrist. I felt the callouses give way, to the extent that I thought it had broken again, but it restored a degree of freedom of movement I had thought was gone for ever.
Then she should try to work out what movement is difficult/impossible for her (typically with that sort of injury, sideways movement would be pretty painful). That may (very likely) preclude a frog-style kick, at least for the time being.
Then she should try to decide whether relatively many foot movements against minimal reactive pressure is easier or harder than pushing more slowly and more infrequently against a higher reactive force - that the "soft and floppy" or "more rigid" decision. I'm inclined to think she might do better with very soft floppy fins, even though personally I hate them.
Lastly, given that the bones have knitted but she probably has callouses at the numerous joints that were "frozen" during healing, she should try to decide which type of motion is more effective in pushing against those callouses and trying to break them down.
I've never broken an ankle so I can't say I know exactly what she's going through, but I did break my wrist and went through all of this trying to get back into competitive swimming. I found downhill skiing quite therapeutic, as my wrist was constantly being flexed to the limit and slightly beyond, but because of everything else that was going on I didn't notice. What did the most good was when I was knocked over from behind when ice skating, when I fell on the damaged wrist. I felt the callouses give way, to the extent that I thought it had broken again, but it restored a degree of freedom of movement I had thought was gone for ever.
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