recovery from torn ankle ligaments

I did something similar to my right leg last year when I crashed in a road race just before the Dragon Ride. I couldn't clip in or out, so I moved the cleat as close to the centre of my sole as possible and found that I could then clip in and out with only a small amount of pain. I wasn't able to exert much pressure with my right leg and ended up mainly using my left.

I did manage to get around the Dragon though, albeit very slowly :?

It took quite a long time to heal, somewhere around 3 months, but I had done a load of nerve damage at the same time which didn't help. I managed to ride most days though and with hindsight I reckon my leg was ok much earlier by I was reluctant to put any real weight on it for fear of causing more damage.

i recommend you eat lots of protein foods... like beans, eggs, chicken... etc. and about 2-4pints of milk per day.
then your body will be driven into over load recovery mode!

My main sport is basketball and I've done this too many times to mention. I now have these ankle braces that I wear underneath my basketball boots which makes it almost impossible to 'turn' my ankle.

Last time I did it (not playing basketball so not wearing the braces) I ended up cycling afterwards wearing these braces which really helped give me confidence and strength. I just wore normal trainers rather than clips, mind you.

The other thing I find helpful is swimming. That's a really good way of exercising injured ligaments.

Sounds unpleasant..... but all is not doom and gloom. I dislocated my ankle a few years back (long story...) and here is what I found helped.

1)Cod-liver oil, and Glucosamine+chondroitin are helpful to healing. Volterol gel (anti-inflammatory) is great stuff too. Ibuleve is ineffective.....
2) Using a wobble-board (post the initial healing period) REALLY helps to strengthen the tendons and muscles supporting the joint, and improve proprioception and reactions so that you don't turn it again - mine's now stronger than it was before the injury. Great for core stability too! Google Norlite Medical for some good-value ones.
3) Cycling is actually one of the best things to do for rehab - but build it up slowly in terms of time, and I'd agree with the "avoid clipless" approach.
4) You'll need to be careful about giving it rest, and icing - you'll be able to do 1 day in 3, or alternate days, long before it will take consecutive days - but you can still keep most of your fitness this way. If you don't listen to your body and push too hard, you'll just keep creating inflammation and scar tissue & it'll go chronic.... look at the "Polar Pack" from www.allsports-int.co.uk as an improvement over frozen peas
5) The best "everyday" ankle braces I've found are the bioskin ones available from snow+rock. You might benefit from an "aircast" during the initial chronic phase, and for a longer period whilst running or (heaven forbid) playing football - mine came from the Orthopaedic clinic at hospital, see if you can get one from them or try on-line - whether it's worth it depends how bad the tear is....

The background to all this is that you have to let the inital healing phase just happen -rest, ice, elevation, nutrition.... but this just forms "disorganised" fibres (i.e. scar tissue). the rehab phase then promotes the formation of organised fibres in the correct orientation to take the load. You have to do enough work to promote this growth, but not so much that you exceed the strength of the disorganised fibres and cause more scarring...... you need appropriate rest and nutrition during this phase too, and again icing etc. will help.

Good luck!

Miles