By Judith Tan
News Correspondent
juditht@sph.com.sg

 

IT TOOK a fracture to bring home to me how much we take our feet and ankles for granted.

Yet, they are one of the most hard-working parts of the body. They support our entire body weight, and carry it through 8,000 to 10,000 steps each day.

They are subjected to a rigorous workout, coming into direct contact with whatever ground surface we choose to walk or clamber across.

Do the maths: Imagine carrying your own weight for an estimated 184,000 km in a lifetime. It's no wonder ankles and feet are also one of the most frequently injured areas of the body.

Mr Jasper Tong, a chiropodist at the Singapore General Hospital, once told me that most people don't care much about their feet and ankles until they are injured or forced to do without them.

It's only when the pain does not go away or the foot swells to to look like a big blue marble that they consult a doctor, he added.

How true.

I was an active child and perhaps the repeated minor sprains over the years have left my left ankle vulnerable to injury.

It usually happened while I was running, jumping rope or dancing on heels during school break. I even strained it once while dismounting from a horse.

I sympathised with my colleague, Sumiko Tan, when I read her article in the Sunday Times about suffering an ankle sprain not too long ago.

That brought my childhood memories of injured ankles back to me.

I recall the struggle to walk normally after shuffling painfully and walking with a limp for several weeks.

The treatment regime consisted of cold and hot compresses followed by a visit to the Tuina physician, then located at Zion Road.

The old physician, trusted for generations and who drew the line at touching actual breaks, would massage and manipulate the ligaments back into their original position.

Then came the food advice — no cold drinks or anything sour as they could bring on arthritic-like pain.

There is no scientific basis, no double-blind placebo test to this wisdom, but everyone, particularly older folks, would take heed.

Who was I then, not to follow his instructions?

But one thing was certain both then and now — the determination not to let a weakened ankle stop me from continuimg my normal active life.

But the latest episode of "house arrest" has taught me a few things about myself. The more time I spend at home, the more I realise how much I love being outdoors.

Perhaps this accident, will finally teach me not to take my feet, let alone my ankles, for granted.