Hi everyone,
I unfortunately had a little accident and sprained my ankle exactly a week before leaving for Japan.
My husband and I are flying to Narita then traveling to Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka for 14 days.
The attractions/places we have booked so far: Universal Studios, Teamlab Planets and Disneyland/Sea.
Our day to day is a bit more open ended, nothing specifically planned.
I was wondering if anyone has had experience travelling with a slightly immobile ankle? Any difficulties I might face when trying getting around? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
For context, this is day 2 of the sprain and am only able to walk very short distances. I would probably need to use a wheelchair for longer distances if my ankle remains in this state.
41 comments
That doesn’t sound like the makings of a fun holiday. If you have travel insurance it would cover cancellation fees
Awful timing. I did my left ankle 4 weeks before our recent trip. I was OK, but coming down stairs was still a bit awkward at times. I iced it several times a day for as long as I could stand it and took quite a lot of anti inflammatories like Voltaren and ibuprofen. If it was a week prior, I’d have been in trouble for sure.
There’s a few things in team lab planets that will be very hard with a dodgy ankle. We went there about 10 days ago.
Being so recent, I feel it is going to inhibit many things you want to do. Postponement for a few weeks would likely be enough if you can swing it.
Can you reschedule? There is so much walking in Japan. Ice it, elevate it.
I sprained my ankle while I was on vacation in Japan and had 9 days left to go. On the second day, I had to travel from Osaka to Tokyo via shinkansen with a limp. I would suggest getting an ankle brace if you don’t have any, also there are some cooling pads at the pharmacy specifically for swelling if there is any. I had difficulty going down the stairs as well as up the stairs since the subways are underground. I also iced it twice a day. Also there definitely are elevators but finding them can be hard and it is also a walk getting there. I had a harder time with team labs since there is a part of the exhibit that involves walking upward on rocks with water. Disneysea was also hard for me too since the lines did not have any seats to sit down.
I may be being a little too optimistic, but I wonder if you could rest the HECK out of your foot before you head over to Japan, and then it would be a lot more tolerable?
I understand it takes some time to heal a sprained ankle, but at least you could possibly make it a lot better? To be extremely hopeful, you may be able to heal it completely?? Am I underestimating a sprained ankle? I sprained mine as a kid and it stopped me from walking for a week or so. I can’t remember if it was still painful afterwards.
You’ve got the option to cancel some things, but… I’m being silly here, but… If I wasn’t in TOO much pain, I’d do what I can do go with what we organised, simply because there’s nothing that could come between me and a trip to Japan, haha.
Anyways, I guess my advice is to REST as much as possible, use anything you can to help your ankle, and heal it as much as you can.
If not, you can cancel things.
I sincerely wish you the best, and hope that your ankle heals enough, to the point that it doesn’t cause major problems.
Take it easy, if you do decide to go with everything you’ve planned. You do not want to make it worse.
Best of luck!! Have a speedy recovery.
Japan, or at least Tokyo and Kyoto, are very public transportation-based, which means lots of walking to and from your local train or metro station and often a fair bit when transferring as well
Japan is very bad in terms of accessibility. They’re getting better, but not every station or every platform has an elevator or even an escalator option. The station closest to where I was staying, Shinjuku Gyoenmae, had no non-stair option for platform 2. Your only option is to go past and take the next train back so you end up on platform 1.
I suspect you’ll still be able to manage, but this will noticeably impact your visit.
Depends on the severity of the sprain. I once was was crutches and had to be off my feet for 6 weeks. I found it hard to find elevator replacement in public transit
Make sure to wear compression socks on the plane and maybe at other times
Oh nooo that sucks! Ankle sprains are the worst because, I’ve sprained mine several times throughout my life, you kind of feel dumb about it because it’s so “minor”, but actually it’s terrible and takes a while for an adult to heal it properly.
All of those amusement park days are going to be awful unless you rent a wheelchair! Disney sea and universal in particular have sooo much walking.
I live in Japan currently and often roll my toddler around in a stroller and finding the correct elevators can be very challenging sometimes.
Look for some day trip tours that take you places via bus/van/car. That should at least minimize how much you walk to a lot of places
Research temples and shrines beforehand, because many are only accessible after going up stairs. So check beforehand so you don’t waste time and effort going only to realize you can’t reach it
I think you’ll struggle; Japan = walking, lots of walking.
I have seen at least one tourist in Japan going around on a knee scooter. It probably does feel more natural since your not using your upper body as much as in a wheelchair.
I’m not sure if it’s that much more convenient than a full wheelchair though. That was in Tokyo, but I imagine it’d be harder in a more bus oriented transport system like Kyoto.
https://www.kneescooters.com.au/
Happened to me before. I rested my leg for 1 whole week straight. Bought an ankle guard and off the trip I went.
You will need to adjust your itinerary to exclude places with lots of walking to do. Instead, enjoy sitting at a cafe with views and people passing by. Can’t climb the many steps needed to get to shrines, etc. The steps getting out of their metro station will be unavoidable.
Don’t let this be a damper. You will miss some sights, sure, but things like Tokyo Tower (and their equivalents elsewhere) are still very accessible. Leave the fushimi inari shrines and all for the next trip!
I would avoid Inari Shrine and Arashiyama. Those are pretty cool places near Kyoto but are not easy hikes even on a good ankle.
As someone who had experience spraining my ankle before, I’d advice you reschedule your plans. Mine took 2 months before I couldn’t feel any pain. Not sure how minor your sprain is but mine was pretty bad that I couldn’t walk for the first week. Since you’re able to walk small distances, I’m assuming it might take 2-3 weeks before it gets better.
According to the website, one can skip certain rooms at Teamlab if needed. My parents can walk but have some mobility issues, so were just planning on skipping the rooms w/uneven flooring.
Teamlab Planets has a section that you need to walk in water, I’m not sure if there’s any way around it. If you’re in a cast, you might want to reconsider.
I broke my ribs and sprained my ankle in a training exercise a week prior going to Tokyo. I was able to wrap my ankle good enough that it didn’t bother me too much. Being in the military, my body runs on alcohol and ibuprofen, but it only bothered me after around 30k steps. I’m used to hiking/rucking long distances, so my ankle was fine, but there was no helping my ribs, that sucked.
I would advise you reschedule your flight if you think you’ll be restricted from too much walking.
There’s soooooo much walking in Japan, like you can easily clock 20k steps. I would see how long you need to recover first and see if you can postpone the holiday.
Here in Osaka/Tokyo currently. While traveling you’ll have to take it a little slower.. your attractions is going to suck and probably will have to cut some things off your itinerary. Universal is super busy and make sure you buy your tickets ahead of time. I made that mistake yesterday and saw the line of death.. decided to gorge my sorrows instead with food in Dotonbori haha.
I traveled with an injury that limited my mobility though not in Japan.
* Are you doing crutches? With the crutch, you’d lessen the load you are bearing. It also signals to others that you have a temporary disability and you’ll be able to get a seat on transit.
* Don’t discount the bus! Take it short distances that you normally wouldn’t
* Sit at the bulkhead seat and elevate your foot with a suitcase. Get a wheelchair at the airport.
* Look up transit maps and figure out where the elevators/escalators are
I would say consider removing Teamlabs as while you can skip certain exhibits that require mobility. It doesn’t have any exits without asking the workers from what I saw, so you have to move forward and can’t just bail easily if it becomes too much.
I have a really bad ankle from a work injury. Tokyo is mostly flat. Only major issues are inclines, Shibuya is bad for that. Akihabara, not so much (roads around Kuramaebashi Dori street, and Ochanomizu station, but mostly flat ground) my feet hurt worse than my ankle did.
i sprained my left ankle pretty badly two days before japan and i survived three weeks of walking everyday. just left japan yesterday
One totally different solution:
[The iWalk](https://www.amazon.com/iWALK3-0-Hands-Free-Crutch-Alternative/dp/B08WJRWR57)
I fell down the stairs and thought I broke my toe the day before while packing. Luckily our month long holiday started with a two week cruise around the country. Even then I had to skip ports because there is a ton of walking everywhere.
If you plan on using the metro it will take you ages to get through only using elevators. A lot of sightseeing will probably be out of the question as well due to stairs and minimal ADA.
Hope it mends!
Bit of an odd recommendation, but I’ve been dealing with a difficult sprain for like six weeks now and used to live in Japan. Try it out before going, but if it feels okay to you, renting bikes to get around Tokyo or any other Japanese city might be a good option. Walking can be really painful for me, but biking feels great. If it works for you, then I highly recommend biking around. That way you don’t have to deal with stairs going up and down train/subway stations or spend a fortune on taxis.
Get a retractable walking stick. And travel light enough to just use one roller luggage and light back pack between the two of you. Bring some very old clothes and underwear that you wanna throw away anyway, to wear in the inside (it is still quite cold) and then simply throw them away if you need to lighten your luggage load. Pre plan your commute and find the most optimised routes, and add in rest stops. Prioritise your sightseeing spots to se what you can miss if you got too hurt. And lastly, after every night you should soak your feet in warm (like 20-30 degrees) and then cold water to ease the pain.
I’m sorry this happened to you! What crummy timing!
In terms of real talk – as you may already know, there is a lot of walking in Japan. And unfortunately the wheelchair accommodations are not great.
With that being said, Day 2 after a sprain can be very different from Day 7. You still have 5 days of healing ahead of you. I would suggest you do a lot of self-care over the next 5 days to aid your recovery (RICE – rest, anti-inflammatories, compression, elevation).
Also be kind to yourself while traveling and acknowledge that maybe your ankle is not 100% and you have to take things more slowly and that is ok.
It’s not realistic to guarantee that you will be 100% by the time you go, but I think you will be doing a lot better by then. If nothing else, hopefully this is encouraging lol!
teamLab might be difficult, went to their Fukuoka exhibit and most of it is impossible for wheelchair user or person with low mobility, I cannot imagine planets would be much different, especially with the water part.
It depends on how bad your sprain is? I sprained my ankle during a trip to Japan in 2019 on my first day missing a step.
The swelling was really bad but I still went around – Nagoya, Toyama (rested in the hotel this day) and Tateyama Alpine Road. Also did Disneyland and Disneysea 5 days later, and Teamlab. You can get around stations using the elevator / escalators and walking slower than your usual pace. I walked around in an ankle guard, and at night I iced it. The hotel will have ice on each floor, or ask the front desk, they are usually very helpful!
Hope your trip goes well!
If it’s a light sprain than perhaps 1 week is enough to heal, but you will be walking A LOT in Japan. If you are unsure if it heals, start cancelling things or reschedule it.
I would echo what other people have said and just make sure you budget taxis and do research on places you want to go.
You’ll be able to get into the grounds for a lot of temples and shrines but most of them involve stairs so getting right up to them or into them will be impossible if you’re in a wheelchair.
Team labs has quite a few rooms that you won’t be able to see but they can take you past them so at least you’ll still be able to go! If you’re walking and not in a chair they do give you plenty of time in each room so you’ll be able to take it easy. The only one you have to rush in really is the flower one because you are timed in there with it being small.
Public transport imo was generally inaccessible. Lots of escalators which helped us as my fiancé hurt his foot a few days in but not many lifts so I’m not sure how successfully you’d get around in a wheelchair but if you’re walking by then you’ll be able to use escalators almost everywhere. There are also priority seats on everything and people do generally get up if you need them.
I’d say just take it easy and maybe cut your itinerary down (if you have one) because there’s a huge amount of walking involved. We averaged about 27k steps a day.
I sprained my ankle in bball before I left, just wore an ankle brace and was fine walking 20k steps a day
Rent a wheelchair. Bring it. There are elevators in all stations. Restaurant would be possible but only big ones. If you can walk with two crutches lifting the bad leg it’s possible.
blessing in disguise, enjoy that sweet wheelchair.
Just walk it off, sprained ankle aint that bad
I did NYC on a 2 week old sprained ankle for a week, so here’s the advice I have from a practical perspective:
1. bring a tennis ball or something to massage the calf muscles with. The ankle is injured, but the calf muscles will lock up protectively and that actually causes a lot of the pain. Sitting on the ground and putting the ball under your upper calf muscle on the affected side just below the knee and rocking back and forth to start, then later standing next to a bed or chair, kneeling the bad leg on the chair/bed (so you’re like a flamingo, one leg on the floor, the other bent at the knee and propped up on the higher surface), then putting the ball on the back of your calf and sitting on it to press it into the calf muscle – this will be very uncomfortable, but will really loosen up / massage out where the calf muscle inserts into the knee. Using the ball slowly but firmly to roll down each side of the lower calf helps too. You can lay on your belly and have your partner do it or sit on the ground and lift yourself up to roll back and forth.
2. Cool / Hot foot soaks daily – Immerse your injured foot in cold water for 2 minutes, then transfer it to a 30-40 C soak for about 3-5 minutes. Repeat 2-3 times. This forces vasodialation / constriction and will help with swelling and inflammation.
3. Elevate and ice for 10 mins off/on once you come back to the hotel and during any food breaks (so if you have lunch, elevate and ice your foot while eating). You may have to stick to bigger restaurants to have room to do this. In NYC, I was lucky that restaurant staff would bring me a bag of ice in a nitrile glove or ziplock baggie, but I’m not sure how to request that in Japanese. Some of the convenience stores sell cold packs which may do the job.
4. Consult [https://www.accessible-japan.com/](https://www.accessible-japan.com/) for elevators and routine advice so you can avoid stairs.
5. Bring multiple ankle wraps so you can swap out for fresh ones during the day and wash/hang dry extras in your hotel room, as you’re likely to get a bit sweaty.
Crutches might work, but 7 days for a bad sprain might be worth canceling. Depends on how bad it is. I’ve healed from a decently bad sprain in 7 days so good luck!
just rent a bike in tokyo and kyoto that will make life easy if the motion of pedalling doesn’t hurt your feet too much.
You still have 1 week though~ If you take care of it, you might just make it. It took 3 weeks to “heal” for me, but I was able to walk on teh 2nd week… 4-6 weeks I can walk properly like before but there’s a sting on a specific bend. But that might just be me coz u til now I can’t wear heels d/t that.
Depends if you’re overweight or not tbh
I would stay off of it as much as possible until you leave. Ideally, I would reschedule your trip until after your healed because you’re going to be walking a lot. And having a wheelchair while traveling won’t be very fun maintainable, mostly because a lot of restaurants and shops in Japan are very tiny and I imagine you wouldn’t really be able to comfortably fit a wheelchair in them. Not even sure if you can fit it through their doors.
I hope you heal and recover quickly! Please keep us up to date!