Editing Ottobock Ankle Splint

[[File:{{#setmainimage:Ottobock Ankle Split.png}}|thumb|alt=A photo of an Ottobock splint worn by someone with a basketball shoe|To the Germans, my 9.5 US size is "Small" but it be what it be]]

I have this [[wikipedia:Ottobock|Ottobock]] [https://www.ottobock.com/en-us/product/50S3 splint for my ankle] that I twisted playing basketball. My dad's an orthopaedic surgeon and suggested this particular make and model and it's honestly a lot better than the normal ankle strap you get from Walgreens/CVS.
[[File:Basketball with the lads.jpg|thumb|Not the guys I lost my ankle to. You can see that I am wearing the Ottobock on my right ankle.]]

The reason it works well is that it has these relatively solid plastic splints on either side of the ankle that hold it upright. Against the doctor's advice, I was even able to play basketball wearing the splint. It's quite large so it will make it harder to fit your shoes around it, but it's very comfortable.

Another problem I had with the standard velcro strap available OTC from the pharmacy is that to get some stability I had to wear those quite tightly because there was only manner of adjusting it. That led to it pressing inward on my foot, which became uncomfortable after some time.

With this splint, there's a laced portion on the shin above the ankle that you can tighten all the way down to the mid-foot. And then there's the two velcro straps that go around the foot. So to get it to stay snug on the foot, you don't end up having to tighten the velcro.

I couldn't find this available anywhere from a store, but [https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=ottobock+50s3+malleo+sprint there are sellers on eBay who will ship it to you from Ukraine]! I opted to [https://www.ebay.com/itm/114546795116 pay about twice the amount to just have it sent from the US] and it arrived pretty quickly.

I wash it every so often, and definitely if I've been wearing it to work out or play. Just toss it in the washer/dryer with everything else and it'll get all clean. The velcro will stick to everything, but that's a minor annoyance.

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