Knackered ankle - diagnosis welcome!

[_dan_]

I was jumping around like an idiot in the street yesterday infront of my girlfriend when my ankle gave way, popped, and i dropped to the floor. I'm now in absolute agony but have to work today and tomorrow so can't get the the doctors or hospital.

Basically it's hurting on and below the round bone that sticks out of the ankle (bhottom of the fibula i think), it's started bruising on the outside a little too. I can't put much weight on it at all.

The bugger is that my left ankle has always been weak, and now that's my good one and the right on is knackered!! I'm a mess!

So anyone know if this sounds serious from the description or is it just a little sprain?

Cheers guys and gals. Dan

[chilli]

_dan_ said:

I was jumping around like an idiot in the street yesterday infront of my girlfriend when my ankle gave way, popped, and i dropped to the floor. I'm now in absolute agony but have to work today and tomorrow so can't get the the doctors or hospital. Basically it's hurting on and below the round bone that sticks out of the ankle (bhottom of the fibula i think), it's started bruising on the outside a little too. I can't put much weight on it at all. The bugger is that my left ankle has always been weak, and now that's my good one and the right on is knackered!! I'm a mess! So anyone know if this sounds serious from the description or is it just a little sprain? Cheers guys and gals. Dan

Could be a little sprain, or it could be busted in 12 places. Too busy to get it checked out? You could be hobbling around for the rest of your life....cause work came first? Get it x-rayed asap.
Cheers.

[nubbin]

Sounds like a good old sprain. You do get a lot of swelling and bruising quite quickly after a serious sprain, and it can be difficult to tell if it's fractured. Given what you were doing, a simple sprain seems a lot more likely, but if you're worried, see your doctor or go to A/E for an x-ray.

[greatgranny]

Sounds like a sprain, I would get it checked out just in case.

I've done it a few times playing hockey (and jumping down some steps pi**ed one night).

Elevate it as much as possible and ice it as well. Strap it up with a tubi grip support just to keep it stable.

Good luck.

[Piglet]

It does sound like you've probably sprained the ligament. Get it treated - at least ice, strap and elevate it. I did this coming up 7 years ago (falling out of a doorway at Silverstone!) and it took months and months before I could walk properly on it let alone go back to running. It still feels a bit odd at times even now.

I found out later that ultrasound would have helped to have avoided some of the scar tissue that has built up.

Get to A&E initially to check that it isn't a broken bone, after that have a chat with a physio about what you should be doing to help it recover.

[Carlt]

I twisted my ankle badly at the beginning of December - it is still not right even after visting the chiropracter.

A&E DO NOT do xrays unless they are 100% certain that you have broken something - costs too much money apparently

[littlegreenfairy]

sounds like its gone - I'd get it chopped off if I were you

[carconnoisseur]

A few years ago I was getting dragged across a field by my kite and my right foot folded underneath me and “popped.” I thought my ankle was broken at first…it swelled up like a tennis ball straight away! I couldn’t move it or put any weight on it at all. I went to hospital and was told it was just severely sprained. I still got some crutches and had to go back for some ultrasound/physiotherapy though and I had to wear a funny sock thing as well until the swelling went down. I couldn’t put my full weight on it for months and it has never been the same since! Not that I want to worry you or anything…..

[aspender]

Sprain

Did my right ankle playing football over six months ago, and it is still weak. Best advice I can give is to get it checked out, and get some physio. Also, start putting weight on it as soon as you can otherwise the scar tissue will form too tight and reduce the mobility of the joint in the long run.

[Jaglover]

You've come to the right place, we are all medical experts on here; and to think some people still do things the old fashioned way and go and see their GP