First week and a half since the ankle sprain, still kinda hurts me but I'm limping at the moment. Swelling was the size of a ping pong ball and it's finally starting to return to normal size. It's still quite difficult to walk at times but it is improving every day... How long do you think it takes until I can walk without limping??? Any other sprained ankle stories you can share as well..
This! But use the ol' R.I.C.E method for now. Rest, ice, compress, elevate. Ice only in 30 minute spurts then you soak your ankle in warm to hot water. Depending on how bad it's sprained 2-3 weeks. Do not wrap overnight cutting off the flow of blood for that long will make it worse.
i would recommend going to the doctor as well. I have had a ton of ankle sprains ranging from mild to really bad this past year. I always just let it heal it'self and didn't think much of it. The past year I sprained my ankle really really bad and it was the first time I went to the doctor. After getting my X-Rays back he asked me if I have injured this ankle before and I said yeah in the past. He said I had a few old fractures in the small bones in my ankles that never healed normally because I probably put weight on them and they just healed how they wanted to. Also said it caused slight arthritis to start up in my ankle. Told me if I want to play basketball anymore I have to wear a brace at all times. Which sucks but i'd rather be able to play then to risk hurting it really worse. So lesson is get it checked out because the doctor said you can easily fracture small bones in there and not even know it. Hindsight I wish I had gone when I was younger. Then again I didn't have insurance haha.
The worst sprained ankle I've had I got from going down the stairs in my dorm in college and missing the bottom stair, coming down with all my weight on the side of my foot. We had lofts in our dorm... that was a real pain climbing up into for the following few weeks.
I pulled a ligament in high school I had always been having sprained but that was soooooooo much worse. Usually I could bear weight in a few days .. .that had me crawling for a week or so. I also broke my ankle twice in college. I have some small bone fragments in there . .. floating. The ankle is nothing to mess with. It is ok. Rocket River
Worse sprain I ever had was not being able to walk at all for about a week... and then the ankle not fully healing until about... maybe 1 and a half months.
Thanks for the advice! It really does suck having these ankle sprains, it is very painful and it just takes time to heal. I went to the ER and took some X-rays and thankfully they were negative. The pain is starting to go away after a week but I will continue to elevate it and rest it, hope it heals really soon!
If you still play alot of ball have reocurring joint pain or if you're like myself who's mid 30's but still very active get one of these http://bregpolarcare.com/. I was given one to use after my ACL surgery and had to buy one for myself. I got mine on Ebay for $40 used but in great shape. After a good jog or a night hooping I ice my knees down with this thing while watching TV without dripping water everywhere, I love it!
You left out the most important info, which is how did you injure it and what it was like right after the next day or so. A week of pain/swelling isn't uncommon with a 2nd or 3rd degree sprain. You need to start moving it as soon as you can to keep the range of motion in sync, so that it'll heal as best as possible. You shouldn't be limping on it. Get a boot or crutches.
I have sprained my ankle(s) so many times that I lost count after 10. One of the last times I sprained it (which was also the last time I sprained it playing basketball), I jumped for a rebound and landed on just the floor - not anybody's foot and the stupid thing still got sprained! The RICE method is good but also look into getting some epsom salts. Once you get those, soak your ankle in it for about 15 minutes or so each night. I did that on that sprained ankle described above and was able to play a church league game 4 days later.
I'm following you. I've been using crutches these last 5 days to get around places, and I've been resting it usually when I am at home. The only time i'm putting pressure on it is when I take a shower, so hoping the recovery comes soon!
I had probably the worst sprain last year. I was running on the track and stepped on some stupid rock and I turned it nasty. I thought at first it was broken because it swole up right away and I literally couldn't walk on it. Then after maybe 2 days it felt a little better, but I still couldn't walk on it. I finally went to the doctor and he said that it was a severe sprain and a strained ligament. He decided to put me in a cast for about 3 weeks! It sucked... But my ankle feels stronger than before so I guess it worked.
Sprained my Ankle badly in practice in Highschool. I was limping around school with no crutches for a week before the trainer asked me what the hell I was doing. My left calf muscle was significantly bigger than the right. Had to rehab on some balance ball for a while before they let me play again. For some odd reason they made me rehab in front of the girls brigade practice. That was slightly embarrassing and entertaining.
I did that in middle school. Hopped on one leg and then eventually limped for like 2-3 weeks. Played ball as soon as i could limp "comfortably" also. Stupidest thing ever, but i was trying to be tough, i guess. Completely screwed up my mechanics, so i had ankle issues for years after it happened.
