Sprained Ankle Help........

[THUNDERDOME]

So I was playing basketball and rolled my ankle pretty bad about 6 weeks ago. It swelled up really bad. I had Xrays, and they showed no break of any bone. They put me in an air splint and on some crutches.

Now its been 6 weeks and is still swollen, though its not as bad as its been. I can't walk because the swelling is where my foot would have to bend to take a step. I finished off some Lodine pills they gave me, but my question is, what else can I do to take down the swelling?

Would Motrin or Advil help? I've read that ice only helps in the first 24-72 hours.

Has anyone here sprained an ankle that might have some tips or anything helpful that worked for them?



I also should add that I don't know if any ligaments or tendons were torn because I couldn't afford an MRI. But I can apply some pressure toward the heel of my foot, pushing down, but not as much towards the front.


Thanks in advance.

[70th Week]

Dude, if it's been 6 weeks you really need to go somewhere and get it checked. I've rolled mine hundreds of times and the worse one I was on crutches for 3 days and in 6 weeks I was walking...Seems like you got some ligament damage.

[Skinz4Life12]

yea if its been 6 weeks something isn't right

[Spanky22]

I agree with those guys. Ive got bad ankles. Ive blown both of them up like that playing sports multiple times, occasionally so bad that I couldnt walk on them for a week or 2. But six weeks? Dude, go to the doctor!

If it hurts but you can walk on it, youd be ok. Ive had ankles hurt for months and swelling not stop for weeks before. I just waited it out. But not being able to walk on it at all for 6 weeks doesnt seem right.

[Special K]

Sorry to hear about your sprain, that's definitely no fun.

To preface, I'm not a doctor, but this what I would do and the advice I'd give my friends if they asked me...

1. If you have been active, trying to push it a bit with walking or exercising on it within these past 6 weeks, that could prolong the healing. I don't know what your activity level has been, but that could be a factor.

2. Try to keep your foot elevated whenever you're resting. This will help reduce swelling.

3. Soak the ankle in warm water. Yes, you want to ice after an acute injury 24-48 hours to decrease the swelling, so that would have helped immediately after you originally injured it. However, this far out, when the injury is not acute, you now want to be soaking the foot in hot water.

4. If you can tolerate Ibuprofen and are not allergic, you can take that to reduce swelling.

Personally, if it were me, I wouldn't totally panic yet. Sprains can take a long, long time to heal depending on their severity.

One time in college, I was jumping and screwing around in my high heels, rolled my left ankle (and broke the 5th metatarsal), tried to catch myself stumbling forward with my right foot, rolled the right ankle and sprained that very severely. Yes, I'm an idiot, but that's not the point of the story. The point is that it actually took my sprained ankle longer to heal than the broken bone in the other foot (and it was completely broken, not just a little fracture). I had to go to PT for the sprained ankle for a couple months I believe. I can tell you from personal experience, that I'd rather break a bone in my foot than have a severe ankle sprain....

Now, after saying all that, if you are really worried, you can call your orthopedic or family doc who saw you for the original injury and ask him or her what they think, that won't hurt you. I'm just posting on here what I'd tell a friend if s/he asked me.

Good luck :)

EDIT: For some reason I glazed over the part that mentioned you can't walk. If you truly cannot physically walk, after this long, you need to call the physician and relay this to him or her, they are likely going to want to check you out. If it's still just swelling a lot and it hurts when you walk and you are just meaning you can't walk perfectly, then I wouldn't worry too much yet. Just my thoughts. :)

[Chicken Fried]

I've sprained both ankles more times than I can count. Have you sprained an ankle before? The last time I did I got it checked by a doc who said that my ligaments have become so stretched from multiple sprains that it doesn't take much to do it again and it makes the healing process longer. I found that doing ankle strengthening exercises (don't push it; ease into it slowly) helps toward the end of the process and helps to prevent future sprains.

You might want to get a compression sock to help keep the swelling down.

I'm no doctor, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, and I think something else is going on. A normal sprained ankle doesn't keep you off your feet for 6 weeks. I would suspect ligament damage or something else. I've been unable to walk for maybe a week at the most and I've had this problem many times.

I would stop the painkillers. 6 weeks of that is not good for your stomach, and they're obviously not helping the inflammation.

[cjcdaman]

Put some ****ing ice on it...grab your balls, and repeat after me...."I am not a drama queen" 3 times.

Seriously, it's been 6 weeks???????? Chances are, it's nothing and you may be a drama queen.

Orrrrrrr, you could google what to do when you have a torn ligament or tendon????????? You can't afford it? Google it, baby!

[THUNDERDOME]

Sorry to hear about your sprain, that's definitely no fun.


EDIT: For some reason I glazed over the part that mentioned you can't walk. If you truly cannot physically walk, after this long, you need to call the physician and relay this to him or her, they are likely going to want to check you out. If it's still just swelling a lot and it hurts when you walk and you are just meaning you can't walk perfectly, then I wouldn't worry too much yet. Just my thoughts. :)

The reason I cant walk is because the swelling is right where I need my foot to bend in order to take a step. So its basically blocking my foot from bending all the way.

If the swelling wasnt there I think I'd be able to walk slightly on it because I CAN put some pressure on it.

Thanks for the info too.


Orrrrrrr, you could google what to do when you have a torn ligament or tendon????????? You can't afford it? Google it, baby!

I actually did and it said even if you have something torn, if it's immobilized properly it can heal on its own. Don't know how safe that is though.

Yes it is a first time ankle sprain.





For the time being I have had it in an Ace Bandage. Should I take that off now? Could that be possibly holding the swelling in? I know that sounds dumb but imm just irritated with it.....

And also I have no insurance so a doctor visit is out of the question. I'm up to 1400 in emergency room bills already for the stupid xray....:mad:

[Rdskn4Lyf21]

Possible bone spur.

That's all I can say now as I'm a little inebriated. I'll post more when I sober up or hit up McD's.

[Special K]

The reason I cant walk is because the swelling is right where I need my foot to bend in order to take a step. So its basically blocking my foot from bending all the way.

If the swelling wasnt there I think I'd be able to walk slightly on it because I CAN put some pressure on it.

For the time being I have had it in an Ace Bandage. Should I take that off now? Could that be possibly holding the swelling in? I know that sounds dumb but imm just irritated with it.....

And also I have no insurance so a doctor visit is out of the question. I'm up to 1400 in emergency room bills already for the stupid xray....:mad:
Well, does your ankle feel better in the Ace bandage or out of it?

And just for future reference, the ER is always the most expensive option... If you don't have insurance, you should try to find an urgent care clinic, or a walk-in primary care clinic. :D

[THUNDERDOME]

Possible bone spur.

That's all I can say now as I'm a little inebriated. I'll post more when I sober up or hit up McD's.
uh oh...more material for me to google...:mad: lol



Well, does your ankle feel better in the Ace bandage or out of it?

And just for future reference, the ER is always the most expensive option... If you don't have insurance, you should try to find an urgent care clinic, or a walk-in primary care clinic. :D

I dont really feel a difference in or out of it....

Urgent care's want u to pay up front though....i didnt have the cash in hand....and didnt wanna put it on a CC....ill wait til the ER settles or cuts it down a lot....lol

[Die Hard]

Possible bone spur.

That's all I can say now as I'm a little inebriated. I'll post more when I sober up or hit up McD's.

Bone spurs don't develop in 6 weeks.

[Special K]

Bone spurs don't develop in 6 weeks.


I think this accurately sums up the thought process behind that suggestion... :ols:

That's all I can say now as I'm a little inebriated.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

I remember when I was like 10 my grandma had a cat with a bum paw. She took painstaking care of it, wrapped it's little paw up in a bandage and tried to nurse it back to health. The bandage caused the cat to get gangrene on it's paw and she had to put it to sleep. I'll never forget that smell. Since then I haven't had even a band-aid on for more than an hour or two. Seriously, take the ace bandage off and see what happens. I can almost guarantee that it helps.

[JustAfan47]

Bro you need to go to the doctor. No meds are gonna help you. It's still swollen cause more then likely something is torn. If you decide to just let it heal on it's own witch could take a while you might run the chance of never having full mobility of your foot and have a pimp walk for the rest of your life.. Then again maybe your just old and a slow healer! :)

[halter91]

prertend you're an illegal immigrant and you can get an mri and health care for free.

Seriously, I used to hoop all the time and rolled ankles were happening all the time, get it check. You have something else going on in there.

[Bonez3]

prolly had some extensive soft tissuer damage. Depending on exam at time of sprain, tear/rupture certainly possible. But by all accounts your still in the throws of a sprain. Swelling can persist and if weight bearing still painlful, you should continue crutches.

However sounds like everything done was on point- brace, ice, anti inflams. I would hold off on the pills and revisit your doc. Ice has been shown to be effective even after the 48 hr window, but only with worsening swelling. Sounds like yours is going down. Compression device at this point if tolerable may certainly help. Sprains certainly can persist and depending on the area of swelling, it could portend to a tendon/ligament tear. Although, may not need anymore intervention...but only can be assessed by your physician.

After 6 weeks a follow up is certainly in order. Go make an appt. But sprains certainly can have this prolonged course, esp. depending on severity. Months

Doesn't sound like bone spur at this juncture, esp. with history of traumaswelling.

[Rdskn4Lyf21]

Bone spurs don't develop in 6 weeks.


I think this accurately sums up the thought process behind that suggestion... :ols:

I don't know :silly:

I was drinking.....plus, I had something similar. From rolling my ankle over and over during a period of time I developed a bone spur. It was just constant swelling for a long time and I had no clue from what until I went to a doctor.

I'm not a doctor, leave me alone :ols:

[Special K]

I'm not a doctor, leave me alone :ols:
I think my favorite part of your post was the "yo, yo! I'll get back to you after I hit up McD's" :ols: