2 cents of med advice?

[SysOpt]

Hmm, I think I'd recommend that you see a... DOCTOR! (it could be broken)

[This message has been edited by SysOpt (edited 09-07-2001).]

[surrealchereal]

hee hee, I'm not that tough!
nah, just sprained.. but duh! what a concept I'll call them and ask. Doh!
Thanks!

[madfish]

Welcome back surrealchereal,
Madfish

[KAknight]

I once heard a rule of thumb for injuries like that. It was called ICE.
Ice, Compression, Elevation.
I'd say to keep wrapping it.


Edit - spelling


[This message has been edited by KAknight (edited 09-07-2001).]

[Fingers]

I too have sprained my ankle out in the boonies, and I'd have liked to have died, rather than walking out on it. A bad sprain is probably a torn ligament, which never will heal as strong as it was before, compared to breaks which usually end up being stronger than they were before the incident.

Ice it as much as you can, and keep it elevated. If it's been a couple of days, you really only need to wrap it up tightly when you're walking on it to help make up for the weakness of the ligiment.

I bought an inflatible air cast two summers ago after I turned mine the second time. Even after 4 months, simply stepping on something the size of a pea the wrong way would sometimes leave me lying on the ground ...writhing in pain. An air cast is thin enough to fit inside your shoe and allows front-to-back mobility while preventing any twisting.

Treating your sprained ankle

Here is the cast I bought.

[surrealchereal]

If it's been a couple of days, you really only need to wrap it up tightly when you're walking on it to help make up for the weakness of the ligiment.

Thanks, that was what I was trying to remember from my weight lifting days, (HA! yeah me! )

simply stepping on something the size of a pea the wrong way would sometimes leave me lying on the ground ...writhing in pain.

Which is something No One wants to see me do!
I had it unwrapped a while today,, It told me to wrap it back up!

Thanks for the link Fingers,,,

Thanks Madfish!

[This message has been edited by surrealchereal (edited 09-07-2001).]

[Fingers]

Is it all purple yet? I finally broke down and went to the doctor when the only thing left on my entire foot that wasn't all swelled up and dark purple was the tips of my toes.
Keeping it wrapped will restrict how much blood can accumulate in your foot, especially if your not keeping it elevated.

[Graham]

I was advised to keep it tightly (sensibly) wrapped, elevation and rest, then to reduce the swelling, alternate immersion in hot then cold water (best done in the bath, with a bucket of cold to dunk in).

I didnt have too much pain, but I have "done" the same ankle twice, (both times the ankle bone hit the ground !!), and it "feels" different, and its certainly weaker.

Get it X-rayed, is my advice.

"get well soon"

G

[surrealchereal]

Oh yeah fingers, we're at the healing now. I had a very bad sprain in high school,. It had a baseball on it! excruciating! This is just a minor one,,(as you said about will happen again fingers, it's also the same one)

CaddmanQ, I complain all the time, and when I hiked out with my pack all I could think about was how good my ankle felt with my boot tight, (oh and be careful because it was weak)
I didn't even whine,, hmmm course I was alone, and more concerned about finding my way,

I gave up I put my hiking boots back on! Ahhhh do I look strange .. flannel shirt jeans and hikers, In LOS ANGELES! sigh, I know I am a fish outa water.

[Ed_S]

GET IT LOOKED AT!!!

I've had LOTS of ankle & foot problems over the last 5 - 6 yrs. Some of it started well before that, repetitive stress kind of thing. But it was all badly amplified by an untreated injury. As I've said, I'm involved in youth sports. Got hit in the side of the foot by a fast thrown baseball. Hurt like hell, but I played tough & shrugged it off. A month later I found out I'd been walking on a broken foot.
Two years later I had surgery for nerve damage in the ankle of the same foot. By then, pain was bad enough that I had to be helped to my car after work sometimes.
Doctors told me it'll never be completely right, every step will hurt a little. For life. But it's LOTS better than before.

Although the break & the nerve probs are unrelated according to the doc, I can't help thinking otherwise.

Anyway, why chance going through something like that??

Hope I've conviced you to go!!

[surrealchereal]

then to reduce the swelling, alternate immersion in hot then cold water

Graham, when I used to lift weights and would have a pull or sore muscle or joint I did the same thing, hot and cold. The hot brings the blood circulation in which is needed for healing. The cold reduces the swelling, and unfortunatley the blood flow, hence the need for the heat.

hmm, amazing what comes back to you once you talk about it with someone

[surrealchereal]

Nerve problems? Hey try wearing high heels, I can't even imagine what happens to women that wear them all the time! No Kidding I even for the most part bought mine a size too big and padded them, and my feet are messed up from just a few years of them. Thank goodness I was never that much a slave to fashion, (you might tell by what I'm wearing today )
OK, I will go Monday! thanks Ed,

[crazyray]

Somebody was close...not "ICE", but "RICE".

Rest was the first word in the mnemonic. I believe you have extensively violated that one already...

Please have it looked at.

[surrealchereal]

OK, so I sprained my ankle waaaaaay out in the boons on Sun. Eve. No problem, I know what to do, (ha! did I?) I strapped down my boot. Tight.
The next day I was able to wrap it, and I strapped down my boot. Tight. (yes I had circulation). I hiked out Tuesday evening. Iced it and, etc., (yep strapped down my boot)
But now I'm home. Do I continue to wrap it?
Oh, BTW it does great wrapped. How do I know it's sprained? Swollen ankle and huge bruise up my ankle bone and perpendicular to it along my foot, plus it felt like fire when I twisted it.

[griobhta]

Hey surreal. Managed to sprain the same ankle very badly twice in the last 9 months. The first time I nearly passed out with the pain the second was only better in the fact that I didn't feel like passing out.

A bit late now but I walked a lot on the first sprain and was out for the best part of 8 weeks before it was anything like right. Got it x-rayed after the bruses got worse after a few days. Only a sprain but they found that I had fractured my ankle before and hadn't even noticed.

Second time, which was only a few weeks ago, I learned my lesson. Very little wait on it for the first 3-4 days. Ice it and sleep with it on a pillow, can get really uncomfortable but does really reduce the swelling, till the swelling goes down. You have to try to walk as normaly as possible as soon as possible so as to reduce the possibility that it will heal askew. Also when the swelling has died down try gently exercises such as rotating the ankle to make sure you retain all motion in the ankle.

When it comes to strapping it before the swelling goes down the best thing is that tubular grip stuff and make sure it goes from your knee to your toes as it will prevent any clot. After the swelling gors you can put on something with a bit more real support. Also remember to take it off at night. After a few weeks when it feels stronger loose support except when your are doing anything a bit more strenous that may cause injury.

I think I have knocked at least 2 weeks of my recovery time from the last injury.

The problem now is that most of the time it feels fine so you keep thinking it is healed then the slightest pull in the wrong direction and you KNOW it's not.

Am planning to get some physio as soon as I can fit it in to help prevent it happening again, am also never using stairs again.

Feeling your pain, also it is always best to get it looked at as it removes any doubt.

Griobhta