Sprained my ankle badly 5 weeks ago. Doesn't hurt, but is still swollen after daily ice, just needs more time?

Question

The pain was intense for the first 5 minutes, then subsided, but the swelling was great. It happened on the outside of my ankle, now both sides are swollen. Bruising left a few weeks ago. There is minimal tightness now and very little discomfort, however the swelling just won't go all the way down. Could this just be a 3rd degree sprain and I'm being to impatient for it to fully heal? In the past when I've sprained an ankle, it's never taken this long, although the pain was greater this time.

Answer 1

I suggest you go to the Gp to refer you for an xray!

I've had that situation before - and had it xray at the time i injuried it - it only showed sign of a bad sprain

7weeks later still had the same problem. In the end i had 2nd xray after a lil swell went down - they notice something not right - so went for MRI scan and found out that i had ATFL reptured.

Had to have surgery to repair it - had that done 4 weeks ago and now half way through my healing process with cast and crutches

Good luck hope it goes well.

Answer 2

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 3

what makes you believe that you sustain an injury, then play & stand & walk & jump & etc on that ankle of your's & expect it not to re-injure;; highly likely that it is not going to 'heal' until you start 'letting it' heal;; sprains can take as long as 6wks to heal dependent on the extent of the initial injury AND IF you do everything 'right' to help it heal;; that. my dear, you need to ask the doc about cuz he knows the where, when, what & how it was injured & has actually seen you;; swelling is a response when something is being irritated (in your circumstance);; gravity also has a way about it that persists this swelling in your ankle;; I can almost also assume that you are limiting your motion in your ankle (no good) which is also contributing to the fact of the maintenance of your swelling;; got a lot going on..need hands on;; get back to the doc...ask a million & one questions...get a referral for a PT or an athletic trainer to get you on track before this heals the wrong way causing you to miss even next year...good luck, seriously...& keep up with the ice...but learn what to do with YOUR ankle injury by getting the doc & others that can help you, & actually see what's going on...you want it healed...the bits & pieces of info you get on this site will get more confusing when you don't get your resolve;; again, good luck!!!

Answer 4

Did you see the doctor?