Ow. My ankle.

[Gray]

So on Monday/Tuesday night i wasn;t looking where i was going outside, ended up where i "fell" into a small hole. I didn't fall over, but i did end up rolling on my ankle.

At first it was "oh ow. that hurt". But i could still walk on it fine, however 2 days later i woke up with a god awful nagging pain in my ankle, i tried to ignore it and stay in bed but i couldn't, then when i got up i found i couldn't balance myself or put any weight on the leg at all.

Expected the pain to cease after a day or two, but it's been 4-5 days now and the pain is still there, i went to a walk-in centre yesterday and seen a nurse who said it looks like i've done my ligaments in, didn't really question it too much all that she said was to keep it elevated and take some ibruprofen/paracetamol. She then proceeded to put one of those tube-socks on.

In the mean time though i'm still in freakin' agony pretty much, going up and down the stairs used to take like 5 seconds, now it takes about 2 minutes. There is no bruising and no immediate swelling i can see, but should i perhaps still be putting ice on the area? Though it does seem to be travelling the pain, first it was localised to my foot but it seems to be affecting the back of my leg now as well, maybe due to putting pressure on the foot.

Found it easier to wear a single trainer-shoe as well, was in agony in just socks but the shoe seems to help slightly with placing my foot down or reducing the bending.

Forgot to add when i'm sat down my foot is rested using some cushions raised up however i have found this to be extremely uncomfortable as the foot itself is aching so bad, it's even worse in bed giving me a lack of sleep!

 

[Tom]

About 4 years ago I fell over while carrying a flight case along what I thought was a flat surface. I twisted my ankle pretty badly.

Today it has less movement than the other foot, and hurts when I move it too far.

Ankles are cunts.

 

[TdC]

if it gets worse, you *must* go see a doc. doesn't sound acute or you wouldn't be walking at all, but if you can't balance on it I would be extremely wary of it for a while. Didn't you go to a gym? Pop down there and ask a physio guy to look at it.

 

[Access Denied]

Was playing Basketball in high school, got knocked while dunking the ball and landed on the side of my foot. Ripped all the ligaments (sp?) tendons and muscles in my foot and ankle. Took ages to heal and like Tom, I get pain if I move it too far.

 

[Punishment]

What have the Ankles ever done for us eh ???

 

[cHodAX]

You should have an x-ray, if wearing a shoe makes it more comfortable that suggests either a ligament/tendon has come away from the bone or the bone is fractured and therefore the ligament is not able to support any weight. The shoe is offering support, holding all the bone and tissue in place. The referred pain is common in foot/ankle injuries, your lower leg might also be compensating for the damage by trying to support the rest of your body and holding itself in a slightly un-natural position which could lead to pain. Best thing is see a doctor and ideally get an x-ray, if nothing shows and it shows no signs of getting better then you are looking at a CT scan I would guess.

 

[Punishment]

Failing that blast it with piss

 

[Tom]

What have the Ankles ever done for us eh ???

Elephants seem to get by just fine without them.

 

[Punishment]

Elephants seem to get by just fine without them.

 

[Amphrax]

I remember when i busted my ankle... Self inflicted... Was at college 16/17 years ago when i thought it be clever and brilliant to show off by running and jumping down these wooden steps. What i didn do was think about it first!!! I walked away and made sure i had distance from the stairs and ran as fast as i can and then the mistake happened... I jumped too early and landed on the bottom 2 steps with my right foot caught in between both of them. My ankle then went 90 degrees and i heard SNAP!... I hobble into the tutors office and she said get out im with somebody. So thats what i did and i bever went to the hospital to get it fixed.

3 months later i thought my ankle was ok, so i kicked a football and thought cool my foots ok. Then 30 mins of playing my foot went into a small ditch and went 90 degrees again... Ouch that fecking hurt... Still didnt goto hospital... 6 months later the same thing again... Play football thinking my foots ok and nope, same ditch, same pain... So now 16/17 years later my foots still fucked... Worst mistake i ever did...

 

[Ch3tan]

Gray, I've had the same as you describe. They key is lots of rest, if you are walking about, climbing stairs, it won't heal.

 

[Hawkwind]

You should have an x-ray, if wearing a shoe makes it more comfortable that suggests either a ligament/tendon has come away from the bone or the bone is fractured and therefore the ligament is not able to support any weight. The shoe is offering support, holding all the bone and tissue in place. The referred pain is common in foot/ankle injuries, your lower leg might also be compensating for the damage by trying to support the rest of your body and holding itself in a slightly un-natural position which could lead to pain. Best thing is see a doctor and ideally get an x-ray, if nothing shows and it shows no signs of getting better then you are looking at a CT scan I would guess.

X-Rays dont show enough detail for ligament/tissue damage you need a MRI scan for that and for an ankle specialist to look at it. Chodax is right you could have long term damage there if it is not treated correctly. So get it treated ASAP.

 

[Rubber Bullets]

X-Rays dont show enough detail for ligament/tissue damage you need a MRI scan for that and for an ankle specialist to look at it. Chodax is right you could have long term damage there if it is not treated correctly. So get it treated ASAP.

Hi Gray, Hawkwind is right in that X-rays won't show ligaments damage, but that doesn't mean you need to worry just yet. Twisted ankles are very common injuries, and the ligament damage that can result can be just as painful, and last as long as fracture pain.

It was realised a while ago that far to many ankle and foot x-rays were being done for this type of injury and so tbe Ottawa Rules were developed. Look at this:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa_ankle_rules

I would hope that whoever you saw in the walk-in centre assessed you against these rules. If they did then the support bandage that you have is probably the correct treatment, you just need to give it time. If you don't think she did then go to an A&E department and get it done properly.

By the way the doctors in our casualty wear scribe and quite a few of our patients think they've been seen by a nurse simply because the person was young and female! I'm not suggesting that you have made this mistake, just that it can happen.

RB

 

[Raven]

I thought ice was only useful immediately after the injury to suppress swelling and bruising, afterwards you want blood flow to aid healing, likewise with elevation.

I'm no doc though but that's what I always do.

 

[Gray]

Well it's been a few days now, the pain was dying down over the weekend finally, i called in sick on Saturday as i didn't want to risk doing a full shift so i just took it easy and rested my foot all day. By Sunday i was walking with a minor limp, but no significant pain and was feeling relatively comfortable.

Wake up today, first day back in work in 3-4 days, before work was fine. However i was in absolute agony from the moment my shift started, for a start there was no way to raise my leg comfortably in work, which mean't that i was putting pressure on the foot, i tried eleviating the pain by putting it in different positions, each one somewhat painful. I asked manager for something to raise my leg on, but he wasn't much help in that department, only getting me one of those tiny footrests.

That didn't do the trick at all, so i asked some others and i managed to get a box, had to use my empty bag though as a cover/pillow which was complete fail. As the day progressed the pain was getting worse, which by the end of the end i was once again back to square one where i couldn't use my foot at all now i have an immense throbbing pain through my whole foot and ankle, and a few localised areas near my toes on the top of my feet is extremely painful.

Bloody ow. Maybe i should have stayed off work, bt i have a further 2 days off now to "re-recover"

 

[dysfunction]

I doubt 2 days will be long enough. I would say at least a weak! But your doctor is the better option to ask.

 

[mycenae]

with any acute injury to a limb, ALWAYS RICE - Rest, Ice, Compress and Elevate....none of which you can overdo.

 

[Scouse]

Had (most of) my ligaments replaced in both my ankles going on 3 years ago now. Had a problem in my left ankle since I was 18 (sporting injury). I could never convince the NHS that there was a problem - they x-rayed me - but it takes specific methods of x-ray to show up ligamental damage. Muddled on for years and eventually did the same to my right ankle - because it was taking all the strain for my stability.

Again - it took me years (and a stand-up row with the doctor) to convince the NHS that something was wrong. It's left me with a deep mistrust of the competency of doctors. YOU know if there's a serious problem better than they do.

In the end I paid for the operation myself for one ankle and got the NHS to pay for the other (otherwise it was another 24 months on a waiting list). Best 5 grand I ever spent.

Until the op I literally fell over every single day because I had no structural strength in my ankles. Now it's like I have a new life


Don't fuck about with ligamental damage. If you've really done something bad you need to get yourself treated properly. It can take 6 months to recover from it and any injury during that time will exacerbate the problem. Don't fuck about with walk-in centres. Go to the doctors and demand a referral.

If the accident was more recent I'd haev said walk into A&E and lie - tell them you went over on it a couple of days ago - they only look at you within 48hours of the accident otherwise you'll be told to fuck off. Get it seen...

 

[cHodAX]

Well said Scouse, faffing around is only going to make it much worse over the longterm.