i sprained my ankle and immediately it looked like a softball in my ankle doc said not to walk on it forthree?

Question

doc said not to walk on it for three weeks but i found that i can put light weight on heel of foot..it is still swollen some four days later and bruising..why cant i walk on it if not major discomfort will it damage it more? crutches hurt undermy arms

Answer 1

For the swelling, you should be using ice. You can put ice on it (or a frozen bag of peas is good because you can refreeze them ) for 15-25 minutes at a time, every hour. That will help reduce the swelling. Also keep your foot elevated. Even if you're laying on a couch or bed, you should put a pillow or two under your ankle to elevate it.

Walking on it before it has time to heal can cause it to never heal completely (you could always have a weak ankle and sprain it more easily in the future) or cause more damage to it currently.

The crutches should not be resting under your arms. You want to bear your weight through your arms, to the hands, to the hand bars. Crutches are difficult for anyone but especially difficult if you have little upper body strength. You could ask your doctor if you could use a cane instead of crutches but he probably won't want you to do that for the first week at least.

It might be easier to put the crutches out about 15-30 degrees from your body. And make sure the crutches are set to high for your height.

Also, be sure when going up stairs, lead with the good foot. When you come down the stairs, lead with the bad foot. And hold the crutches together in the hand opposite of the railing.

Answer 2

Use your crutches properly - perhaps they are too tall for you and need to be shortened a little.

The crutches should fit just 2 finger-widths below your armpits and you should not be getting pains up in your armpits from them. You should put the weight through your hands.

You SHOULD stay off your sprained ankle as much as possible. The trouble is that you may find it easier to hobble about a bit, but now that your ankle is weak it is also easier to re-injure with what would normally be a minor strain to your ligaments.

Answer 3

I badly sprained my ankle about 3 weeks ago. I was in a hurry going down the stairs, lost my balance and landed on a bad side of my left foot, causing my left ankle to be stretched going on the inside. The first 48 hours were excruciating and the pain was un-believable. I've never had a serious ankle injury before.

So I immediately treated it using the RICE method. The following day, the bruising and swelling were so horrible. I found out that I got a second degree sprain and immediately panicked after that. I had a football game on that week and it been looking forward to it because I've been training for rt. I had teammates that had similar injuries and it took them months to fully recover, some of them stopped playing altogether. So I kinda had a short-term depression because I can't imagine myself not being able to run and play sports anymore.

Because I was so desperate to recover again, I contacted a lot of people that I know who do sports and asked them if they had similar injuries. One friend of mine, from the boy's football team in my university, told me about H.E.M. Ankle Rehab. I got a copy 4 days after I got injured. I immediately read and followed what was instructed and felt improvement on the first day. I was able to walk a bit, but I was in pain.

A couple of days after that, the swelling and bruising were subsid-ing significantly and on the fourth day, I was walking comfortably again. Although I've had felt a bit of stiffness, I continued doing what was instructed. My sister was surprised that I have recovered this fast. I told her about this book and was shocked on how effective the procedures were. I'm just so happy that this book was shared to me and how effective it is.

Heal your ankle fully & fast?

Answer 4

your doctor is very old school. Go to a physical therapist and get started on exercises to maintain range of motion. Remember R.I.C.E M. R=rest, get off of it for when you can. I=ice, Ice bag it for 20 minutes every hour or so. Don't let anybody tell you to put heat on it. That will increase the inflamation process. C=compression, as in an ace wrap. start at your toes and wrap up to about 3-4 inches above your ankle. E=elevation. Get your ankle above you heart and keep it there for 20 minutes every hour. M=motion, try writing the alphabet with your big toe. Easiest way is to ace wrap your ankle, lay back and elevate it above your heart, put the ice bag on it and start ankle pumps i(down ups) or alphabets. If you can squeeze 20 minutes in every hour the swelling will start to go down. I'd still go to a sports med doc or physical therapy clinic. Most general practitioners are about 20-30 years behind the times. If it swelled up that big and that fast your probably tore or partially tore one of more of the ligaments. One is just infront of the outside ankle bone. One is just under the outside ankle bone and one behind. The one in front is the one most commonly injured (Anterior Talofibular ligament). If it hurts most on the inside of your ankle go back and get an x-ray. The crutches are good for you to a point. Walk as normal as possible and use the crutches lightly. It will save your armpits and its better for your healing ankle.

Answer 5

Follow your Drs. instructions. Hint: many of my friends, relatives and co-workers have used giant sponges (the kind you wash your car with) and duct taped them onto our crutches for greater comfort under our arms. They are cheap and it WORKS rather well. Good luck and stay off that ankle.

Answer 6

You could do more harm by putting weight on it.

Rest it until the swelling goes down. If it does not improve go back to your doctor.

Answer 7

It should be immobilized by cast or splint and you use cruthches to keep weight off it or you could get permanent ligament damage.

Answer 8

rest it for as long as you can. even if you don't feel pain walking on it, it can still do further damage to the joint, destroying cartilage and things like that.