Daughter Keeps Breaking Her Ankle

If you are really worried about it, look up doctor Ira Zaltz out of Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital. His is my son's orthopedic doctor and is awesome. He may be able to tell you what is going on.

Unless your doctor thinks it's a good idea, I don't think you should go with the ankle brace. I fear that could keep her ankle from strengthening on it's own, leading to a lifetime of problems for her. When I was her age, I had knee problems, to the point of there being very little cartilage in my knee. The doctors recommended quality shoes, with lots of cuchioned support, but otherwise didn't treat the knee in any special way. By the time I was out of high school, I had few problems. I had a friend that had a similar problem, but her doctor had her treated with all sorts of braces, and such. Now, she has had several surgaries, and still has problems with the knee. She truly believes that it's because her knee was not allowed to strengthen on it's own.

I would consider a brace if there is a specific activity she is going to be doing, such as skateboarding or sports. But I would only have her wear it during the activity, and have her remove it right after she's done. Also, you might try finding some shoes that seem to offer some light ankle support. I'm not sure how you daughter's personal tastes in footwear would fit with it. But hiking boots could prove benficial. That way she could get some extra support, without being so restrictive as to prevent the bones from strengthening on their own. Hang in there. These can be tough years for the parent of an active child...or so my mom tells me.lol

A brace will not strengthen the ankle, in the long run it will make it weaker and the muscles in it weaker. I definately would not leave one on long term (day but not when she's sleeping)without consulting your Dr. Occassionally usage while she is playing sports would probably be fine, but if it is weak you need to find a way to strengthen it.
I would definately consult your Dr.

The brace is probably a good idea, especially when she is doing physical activities. The other thing I would wonder is why she continues to hurt her ankle. If you haven't already you might want to take her to see someone who can look at her gate (the way she walks). She may be doing something in her gate that is making her so susceptible to these injuries. I know MSU Clinical Center has a wonderful physical medicine and rehabilitation program and even a doctor that specializes in pediatrics. Good luck.

You may not believe this but between my two boys (now 17 and 18) they've had 15 broken bones. It was almost always an arm or a wrist. They got to the point where they would call me and say "mom come get me I broke my arm again". So maybe she is just active and prone to it. I asked several doctors if there was a problem with my kids bones and they all said that their bones were fine they were just very active boys. We haven't had a broken bone in over a year now but last year my 18 year old split his spleen snowboarding. I just have accepted that they are accident prone.
Ankles may be different though since they may need a longer time to heal. If she's constantly spraining and twisting it the muscle could be weak. I remember taping my ankle in basketball because of past sprains. The taping helped keep me from injuring it again so maybe the brace is a good idea for you. Good Luck. I'm sure she's a healthy, very active young lady!

i would put her in a brace to my 7 year old slipped and feel back in november and got a double evualiaon fractor six weeks in a cast now she has hurt it two more time ace make a wondeful slip on brace give it a try

Try taking her to a pediatric podiatrist. I believe her physician is missing something or isn't treating her injuries correctly. Good luck.

Braces (the ace bandage type) are a nice feeling support and make you feel more controlled. One thing that may help long term is bar exercises. I don't know if you or your daughter has ever taken ballet, but the basic excercises done at the bar as warmups are wonderful to streghten the ankle. You could easily quiz a fried/family member who has taken a class or get a video (netflix, or excercise) or book at the library. Short exercises at a chair or daily or a few times weekly are great. It's as simple as pointing your toes.

I had multiple sprained ankles, BAD ones, even tore up my tendons playing softball. Finally had a bad break when my 2nd son was only 6wks old. Spent 8wks in a cast. And then did Physical Therapy.

I have not twisted my ankle, sprained my ankle, or otherwise injured it since (2.5yrs! When I used to roll it over or sprain it at least 4 or 5 times a year)

Get that girl into physical therapy, she's probably stretched out her tendons and ligaments making her ankle more suseptable to injury because it's loose. If the PT doesn't work, she may need surgery to tighten the tendons up again. Thankfully that is a rare occurance though.

My son is 15 years old and in the course of one year (13-14 yrs old) he managed to break his elbow once and his wrist, in the same spot twice, the second time he broke his wrist it needed pins. There is no bone disease and the orthopedic doctor told us that due to rapid growth in children their bones are more unstable and with increased or aggressive activity they are more prone to breaking. He hasn't broken a bone now in over a year.

He does, however, wear a wrist brace when he plays soccer. Just in case. And the doctor recommended taking proper doses of calcium, because even if he drinks a lot of milk, it is usually not enough for kids. Do not put a brace on her ankle it will never learn to strengthen itself.

This sounds like something you might want to check in to. (ankle support brace).
Just ask you doctor for a script.
The best place I have ever delt with, for any kind of brace or durable medical equiptment, has been Wright & Filippis. They are located all over MI.
You also might want to look into getting physical therapy, also.
Good luck with your daughter healing.