Ankle injury???

Question

MY ankle has been hurting a lot when I walk. It started a couple days ago. I told my mom and she said...okay. She never did anything about it. Should I just dealwith it and hope it goes away or tell her to take me to the ER? Anyone have any suggestions? She doesn't know howbad it hurts...i can barely walk. Crutches might help but I don't have any. What do I do?

I used my ankle all day yesterday and the day before and it hurt a lot but now it feels like i am gonna die...and know my knee feels a lot of pain too...how did this happen and should i go to the
ER now??

Answer 1

If it hurts bad enough that it is difficult to walk, then I would suggest trying to get it checked out by a doctor. If it's sprained, here are some tips for taking care of that:

Many doctors suggest using the RICE approach--Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation--for treating ankle sprains

RICE approach

Rest--You may need to rest your ankle, either completely or partly, depending on how serious your sprain is. Use crutches for as long as it hurts you to stand on your foot.

Ice--Using ice packs, ice slush baths or ice massages can decrease the swelling, pain, bruising and muscle spasms. Keep using ice for up to 3 days after the injury.

Compression--Wrapping your ankle may be the best way to avoid swelling and bruising. You'll probably need to keep your ankle wrapped for 1 or 2 days after the injury and perhaps for up to a week or more.

Elevation--Raising your ankle to or above the level of your heart will help prevent the swelling from getting worse and will help reduce bruising. Try to keep your ankle elevated for about 2 to 3 hours a day if possible.

If you need medicine to ease the pain, try acetaminophen (brand name: Tylenol) or ibuprofen (brand names: Advil, Motrin, Nuprin).

Putting ice on your ankle can be very helpful, but you also need to be careful. The cold can damage nerves if the ice is left in place too long.

Ice can be left on your ankle for up to 20 minutes at a time. When your skin feels numb, it's time to remove the ice. Use ice treatments every 2 to 4 hours for the first 3 days after your injury. Ice treatments can consist of ice packs, ice slush baths or ice massages.

To use ice packs, partly fill a plastic bag with crushed ice. Wrap a thin, wet cloth around your injury. Place the ice pack over this and then wrap an elastic bandage around the ice pack to hold it in place.

For ice slush baths, fill a large bucket with water and ice. Place your ankle in the bucket until the skin gets numb.

Ice massages can work well for small areas. Freeze water in 4- to 8-ounce styrofoam (coffee) cups. Tear the top part of the cup away from the ice. Hold the covered end and slowly rub the ice over the sprained area with a circular motion. Don't hold the ice on one spot for more than 30 seconds.

How do I wrap a sprained ankle?

Start by cutting out a horseshoe-shaped pad from 1 x 4- to 3 x 8-inch-thick felt. Put this pad around the outside of your ankle joint on both sides of your foot, with the open end facing up.

Then wrap an elastic bandage, such as an Ace bandage, in a basket-weave "figure-of-eight" pattern. Leave your heel exposed. Reinforce your wrap with 21 x 2-inch adhesive tape over the elastic bandage.

(Pictures of how to wrap a sprained ankle at the site listed below)

Answer 2

Alright the first thing that your gonna need to decide is if your gonna use one crutch or two. I recommend one (reasons will become clear in a minute) and this also means that your choice of leg to sprain is easier. If you are right handed then sprain the left ankle so that the crutch is in your left hand. This means your right hand is free to hold books, carry coffee, and so on. Since your gonna need to keep up this charade during school hours its gonna be a long day if you can't do anything for yourself and this way you can do a lot more. Now to begin with all you will need is some tape, a stone and the crutches. Crutches can generally be gotten in big pharmacy's, or even certain hospitals without an exam. Even if they do, sprains are very hard to diagnose and as such they generally give you the benefit of the doubt. Next, tape a small sharp stone to the bottom of your foot. This will remind you not only which foot is injured (seriously its easy to forget) but also add a sense of realism when you forget and try and walk. If you can I'd recommend wearing a sock over the taped foot (thats right tape the whole foot) and then put a open toed sandal on over that. Hope this helps :) Happy limping

Answer 3

If there was an injury you may have damaged a tendon or a ligament. It has been hurting long enough that you should see a doctor. You do not need an ER. You could go to an urgent care center or see your family doctor. Both can order x-rays and right a prescription for crutches, antiinflammitory medications, and pain medication if needed. If you have not had an injury you may have an infection in your joint. The same places could care for this also.

Answer 4

hey hun. I have broken my ankle before. If you feel and grinding when you walk or the pain is unbearable tell your mom and go to the ER. The thing about breaks that most people dont know is that when you break a bone it can get a blood clot and actually kill you(this happens rarely but it can happen!!!) So i would tell your mother that and see what she says. I would deff go to either the ER tonight or ur Dr tomorow. Good luck!!!

Answer 5

Try wrapping your ankle in something BLUE. Blue will help with pain and should help reduce the swelling. Do not waste the doctors time going to the ER.

Answer 6

Hey Hey..
Well I have hurt my ankle many times. Take yourself to the doctor and get it checked out or x-rayed. Because you need your ankle for the rest of your life, and you don't want to screw it up when your young. You can also go to your local drug store and get an ankle brace, there not to expenise and they help to brace it from turnning it or hurting it agian. A spain can be the worst and take the longest time to heal. so where the brace and it will help it . I have a brace and it has worked for me. PUt lots of ice on it and don't play sports for awhile untill it's healed, you don't want to make it any worse, trust me been there done that. Good luck . You don't need your paren'ts to make a doctors appiontment so make one your self.. hope this helps you ... see ya . hope it feels better.

Answer 7

have you jumped and hit really hard on the ground or maybe twisted it slightly.

I would go to the ER they can take an x-ray and see if anything is cracked. It may just be spranged but I would still go to the ER and get them to take a look at it.

Answer 8

If you can still walk, I would not worry about going to the ER. Just switch between icing it and heating it, and keep it elevated.

Answer 9

don't go to the Er. Make an appointment and see your doctor Monday morning. You could have fractured it.

Answer 10

thats happened to me b4
i went to get xrays and it turned out to be just a deep bruise
i used crutches but i only for about a week because it helped ALOT!!! theyre not that expensive if you go to like a drug store or somethan'
so i suggest to get xrays and see what they say to do and just go from there