Daughters swollen ankle...?

Question

My daughter was running in track 4 weeks ago and twisted her ankle, but it seemed ok after rest. Two days later she stopped running the 100 to check her time with the coach. As she turned, she heard her ankle "pop". It was very bruised and swollen. We went to the Dr. and she was given an ankle brace to wear, but did not take xrays. After a couple weeks her ankle still hurt and was swollen. She had a 6hr dance class one Saturday were she was just "stepping Out" the dances to learn her placement, and after about 3 hours her ankle felt better. When she came home the swelling was down. Do you think her ankle was out of place? Now today during a walk, she lost her balance and fell. Again, lots more swelling than before, I imagine bruising to come. I have brought her to the Dr. for an initial visit and checkup. Now I have her scheduled to see the chiropractor tomorrow thinking last time it was out of place. What do you think, broken?Our daughters name is "Crash" and she is accident prone!

Answer 1

Do not go to the chiropractor as that will be useless...that are not able to properly treat the problem in your daughter's ankle. What your daughter is suffering from is known as chronic ankle instability (CAI). It occurs when a person initially injures the ankle and does not retrain the muscles in the ankle to get strong again and to maintain balance (proprioception). The patient is left with an unstable ankle that can turn with the most simple things. Your daughter should go see an orthopedic doctor to have the ankle x-ray'd because children are especially prone to a type of fracture known as an avulsion fracture. The ortho can also properly diagnose the ankle and provide you with a referral for physical therapy to rehab the ankle so the problem will not come back

Answer 2

She needs to take it easy and sit out of all sports for a few weeks. Once an ankle is sprained or broken the bone and tissue in that area remain sensitive for a while.. Have her stick her ankle in a bucket of ice every day and take an ibuprofen like motrin.

I know the pain and how it's feels to want to jump into running and dancing right away since I also ran track and danced in high school. The pain will eventually go away, but she might need to wear an ankle brace or get her ankle taped by a trainer before track everyday. I bet her trainer also knows some great ankle strengthening exercises as well.

Good luck!

Answer 3

No offence, but I would not go to a chiropractor at all for this. I believe that is completely innappropriate for the problem your daughter is having. I would either see a pediatrician or family doctor and insist on some xrays. or ask for a referral to an orthopedic doctor. An ortho may be more appropriate since they deal with bones and even sprains, and can dicipher Xrays much better than regular family doctors.

Answer 4

My advice, skip the chiropractor and head right to an orthopedic specialist (MD). It's possible that your daughter has lax/loose ligaments in her ankles that are setting her up for repeated sprains, and it could also be that she's got some foot alignment problems that are contributing to her ankle issues. If she's repeatedly falling, I'd guess there's something up with her feet as well as her ankles. and that she might need orthotics.

No matter what the case, I'd suggest taking her to an pediatric ortho specialist in your area - he/she will take x-rays, run some other tests, and provide treatment that can help your daughter head off future injuries.

Answer 5

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 6

xray of the ankle , then if no bone is broken then she needs to rest the joint - ask the orthopedician - and then after adequate rest she has to slowly start using it - ask the physiotherapist.
Ankles bear our whole body weight hence even a sprain needs to heal well before we put the weight on it again.
i dont think ur daughter has broken anything - or else the swelling wouldnt have gone down without treatment

Answer 7

That ankle needs to be x-rayed. Take her to a doctor, get it x-rayed, ask the doctor specifically about how much activity is safe. Then make her stick to the plan. It sounds as if part of the problem is that she never gave it a chance to heal.

Answer 8

It definitely needs to be x-rayed. I'm not real sure why the first doctor didnt x-ray it at the beginning. If there is a bone problem that shows up on x-rays, I would consult the first doctor as to why x-rays were not taken. Good Luck

Answer 9

Oh dear.

I think that the problem started when she twisted her ankle at the track, and it was never treated. Or at least, not treated adequately!

Get those x-rays to find out what's broken.

Good luck!

Answer 10

Accident prone or not, if she was my daughter, I would get your health care provider/ MD to xray her ankle and foot or find one that will do the job correctly....