Ankle sprain

I'll tell you what. I had a car crash in 1992. Broke one ankle. Tore ligaments in the other angle.

I still get pain to this day with the ankle. To a point where is will turn 90* degrees on its own.

I've also recently torn my knee ligament and 6 weeks later. Still hurts and is stiff.

It can take a while
 
Managed to skid down the drive when washing the car and sprained my left ankle (previously broken and plated). Took a good six weeks before it was pain free, but was able to walk on it fine. Had to take a break from running and some sudden movements like change in direction took almost the full 6 weeks to get right.

Joints hate to be kept fixed, you’ll lose strength and flexibility and might prolong your recovery. If you can do some stretching and reduced weight bearing exercise (presuming weight bearing is too painful) it would be beneficial. Keep it moving.
 
atraumatic ankle pain like that bit odd for ligament damage unless it happened when drink was involved and you don't remember. easily 3-6 months for a grade 2/3 ligament tear to heal
serum urate (gout) levels can be normal in an acute attack, useful if they are high when checked but when normal doesn't completely outrule gout. there are other crystal arthropathies that aren't gout
when i had gout high doses of non-steroidals helped but the best stuff to settle it was colchicine. beware the GI side effects of colchicine though :)
i rarely advise crutches when there is no fracture. early mobilisation is key
 
I sprained mine a couple years ago out on a trail run. It swelled up like a tennis ball and hurt like crazy but I was back out in the hills 8 weeks later, albeit very slowly and shorter distances. Certain ankle positions still gave me slight pain up to a year later.

This missus on the other hand, sprained her ankle while climbing in October last year. The xray showed nothing was fractured but she didn't improve with physio. A consultant did an ultra sound and it turned out she'd torn the retinaculum holding the tendon in place. She had surgery to fix it 6 weeks ago, was in a cast for 2 weeks and is just transitioning out of a boot now, hoping to be back to a reasonable standard over the summer.

SPG said:
Listen to your body, Walking a easy 50m to the shop & Back fine, going for a 1km walk with dog NO.
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I had knee surgery in January and the surgeon told me to crack on, I wouldn't cause any damage and that I'd know if I pushed myself too hard. Stupidly at the end of February, thinking I was healed and going stir crazy, I thought it would be a good idea to ease myself back in and take the dog out for a 10km run up Moel Famau. I found out what the surgeon meant when I couldn't move for the next 2 weeks! :cry:
 
Street said:
I sprained mine a couple years ago out on a trail run. It swelled up like a tennis ball and hurt like crazy but I was back out in the hills 8 weeks later, albeit very slowly and shorter distances. Certain ankle positions still gave me slight pain up to a year later.

This missus on the other hand, sprained her ankle while climbing in October last year. The xray showed nothing was fractured but she didn't improve with physio. A consultant did an ultra sound and it turned out she'd torn the retinaculum holding the tendon in place. She had surgery to fix it 6 weeks ago, was in a cast for 2 weeks and is just transitioning out of a boot now, hoping to be back to a reasonable standard over the summer.

I had knee surgery in January and the surgeon told me to crack on, I wouldn't cause any damage and that I'd know if I pushed myself too hard. Stupidly at the end of February, thinking I was healed and going stir crazy, I thought it would be a good idea to ease myself back in and take the dog out for a 10km run up Moel Famau. I found out what the surgeon meant when I couldn't move for the next 2 weeks! :cry:
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I’m certainly not looking to get into running 10k any time soon. Just a simple leisurely dog walk on flat terrain will be fine.
 
I've sprained my ankles so many times! I swear I can twist it on flat ground haha. Usually takes a week or so to fully recover. However, When I was in Bangkok in 2017, I sprained it on the 1st day i was there, then proceeded to walk around Chatuchak market on said sprained ankle, the very same day, THEN, on the 3rd day, I sprained my sprained ankle again, (it bloody hurt even more than normal), this time, it took 3 months to heal properly!

Slightly off topic, is it just me that kind of likes the pain from a sprained ankle, not immediately after, but like a few minutes after the initial agony has gone? It's kind of warm haha
 
Sprained ankles are the worst. I did mine a year or so back. Nothing major, just turned it on a wet rock. Hurt like a bitch for the rest of the day, then when I woke up the next morning my entire ankle had gone properly black and purple. It looked like someday had shoved an eggplant into my sock.
 
Take it easy and don't try and rush your recovery, soft tissue damage/sprains etc can take a long time to recover and you can prolong your recovery by trying to do too much too early. Quite often a break will heal much quicker, and it just so happens I've an example of that for you as I broke four of my metatarsals and dislocated the metatarsal/phalange joint of my big toe on the 19th March :D.
Surgery on the same day as they couldn't pop the joint back in. Within a week I was off the crutches, a week later I can walk almost normally (need to keep my toes off the floor) and next week I'm having the pin removed (steel pin in through the end of my big toe running down through my foot under the phalanges and metatarsal). Thankfully I didn't sprain anything or cause any ligament damage otherwise recovery would be a lot longer.
 
Day 16: Can finally limp/walk on my right foot without crutches although somewhat gingerly and I still on occasion favour using the ball of my foot rather than the heel.

I’m doing some stretches to try and get some flexibility back into it as it feels a bit tight beside my ankle.
 
At the risk of sounding like uncle Albert from only fools with his tales of war..... I did mine back in 2003 playing football. The swelling was like some freakish mutant from a horror film. I was on crutches for a couple of months which ended up making my hands swell up from all the usage of them. I remember my mates so joyfully reminding me of my inability to walk by getting me a wheelchair to push me round for an entire day we all went out. For the first few weeks I literally had to lay with it raised otherwise it would throb like a ***** and ache really bad. I was told breaking it would have been easier. It's never been as strong as the other since that day and has had a tendency to "go again" a few times but more minor.

So all in all... a positive experience to look forward to.
 
jaybee said:
At the risk of sounding like uncle Albert from only fools with his tales of war..... I did mine back in 2003 playing football. The swelling was like some freakish mutant from a horror film. I was on crutches for a couple of months which ended up making my hands swell up from all the usage of them. I remember my mates so joyfully reminding me of my inability to walk by getting me a wheelchair to push me round for an entire day we all went out. For the first few weeks I literally had to lay with it raised otherwise it would throb like a ***** and ache really bad. I was told breaking it would have been easier. It's never been as strong as the other since that day and has had a tendency to "go again" a few times but more minor.

So all in all... a positive experience to look forward to.
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Ouch! Sounds like you did yours a lot worse than mine. I only had minor swelling, the inability to bear much weight was/is the biggest pain (literally!).
 
If you are still NWB then go back to ED and they will book for you to be seen in the fracture clinic as an outpatient and possibly re Xray.

If there is no fracture you should not be using crutches, that may be why you are not walking yet.

Google RICE advice.
 
Have done this to my ankle three times playing football, once you've had done it and the ligaments are weakened, you are most certainly susceptible to doing it again and again.
The 1st time I lied around in bed with the leg elevated, took weeks to think I could stand/walk. 2nd time, similar really although tried walking more and putting weight on it. 3rd time, I elevated for a day then got on my treadmill and started walking, firstly with a limp until I was able to put weight on, did it daily and it fixed itself so quickly. I think I was back playing football within 2 weeks.
 
So in a dramatic plot twist, it turns out I don’t have an ankle sprain. At the start of March, I had a bad bought of gastroenteritis. I was at the Rheumatology department of the hospital today and the Dr told me he reckons I have reactive arthritis.

I did wonder what was going on with my ankle as some days the pain was more like tendinitis, other days it was like a sprain. Anyway, it should pass with time, typically 6 weeks.
 
Charles Darwin said:
If you are still NWB then go back to ED and they will book for you to be seen in the fracture clinic as an outpatient and possibly re Xray.

If there is no fracture you should not be using crutches, that may be why you are not walking yet.

Google RICE advice.
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Worth noting that the author of the paper advising RICE as a form of treatment has since come out and said he was wrong and that movement is actually a better method of recovery.

The issue however is it takes such a long time to reverse the conventional teachings/advice.

In 1978, Dr. Gabe Mirkin released “Sportsmedicine Book” and coined the acronym “RICE” (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) to represent the four activities for treating acute athletic injuries. The RICE protocol has been ingrained in academic curriculum as well as in public perception for over four decades. In 2013, however, RICE was challenged by Gary Reinl in his book “Iced! The Illusionary Treatment Option.” Reinl cited numerous studies and anatomical resources in support of the notion that resting an injury, while wrapping it tightly (compression) with ice, is ineffective in accelerating the recovery process and could also result in further damage to the affected tissues.

Following the release of Reinl’s book, Mirkin publicly recanted his original position on the RICE protocol in a 2015 publication on his personal website (31). Mirkin even wrote the foreword to Reinl’s second edition of “Iced! The Illusionary Treatment Option”, and offered his revised opinion on the protocol he created;

Subsequent research shows that rest and ice can actually delay recovery. Mild movement helps tissue to heal faster, and the application of cold suppresses the immune responses that start and hasten recovery. Icing does help suppress pain, but athletes are usually far more interested in returning as quickly as possible to the playing field. So, today, RICE is not the preferred treatment for an acute athletic injury (36).
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sparkymark75 said:
So in a dramatic plot twist, it turns out I don’t have an ankle sprain. At the start of March, I had a bad bought of gastroenteritis. I was at the Rheumatology department of the hospital today and the Dr told me he reckons I have reactive arthritis.

I did wonder what was going on with my ankle as some days the pain was more like tendinitis, other days it was like a sprain. Anyway, it should pass with time, typically 6 weeks.
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The father in law has gone through the same thing this year. Middle of Jan his foot swelled up etc after running, he thought might have twisted/fractured it.
But after it not clearing up for a few weeks it got diagnosed with arthritis. He was fully off work for a while and only on phased part time now as he struggles to be on his feet for too long.
 
I have had multiple ankle sprains, latest was a grade 2 sprain with a torn calf and I didn't play football for the best part of 6 months.

Walking was a struggle, but after a couple of weeks I could just about get about. Physico definitely helped.
 
I've been quite prone to a sprain when playing rugby. I find that you can get up and running again in a few weeks but it takes a good amount of time to be able to withstand the lateral load of playing a sport.
 
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