if you have sprained/rolled your ankle, how long did it take to heal?

[jenniferlee]

I have never had this injury before, so I feel kind of stupid asking, but I'm frustrated that it seems to be taking so long to get better.

 

Last saturday (so, one week ago) I missed a step going down and rolled my ankle over, felt immediate sharp pain. I iced it a while that night, but the next day I had to drive my kids 8 hours away for a family vacation.:tongue_smilie: Bad timing :(

So I took a bunch of ibuprofen and did it. Iced a couple more times that night, more ibuprofen, tried to stay off of it through the week (but I had to be up and around more than I liked since we were doing stuff), got home yesterday. It's quite a bit better, but it still is swollen a little, and still hurts.

 

How long is it going to bother me? Is there anything more I should be doing at this point?

 

thanks,

Jen

[Carrie12345]

Sprains come in all degrees. I sprained my ankle and fractured the foot at the beginning of April. The fracture healed quickly. The sprain still bothers me 4 months later. The first 2 months were really bad.

 

I was supposed to get PT for it, but I just haven't been able to work it into my schedule. I'm sure that's a factor.

[amyco]

I sprained my ankle in the spring. Have you seen a doctor? My doctor was concerned enough to have it x-rayed, even though I could walk on it. It pretty much took exactly 6 weeks to stop swelling and feel normal, and that was after three treatments of acupuncture. I was going on holiday so I had to have it healed!! Try to stay off it as much as possible. I know that ice is recommended, but my doctor said that's really only for the first 24-48 hours--after that, switch to heat, unless you reinjure it, then go back to ice.

[MamaT]

I sprained my ankle badly years ago and it took weeks before I was back to normal. Even now, every morning it is stiff and takes a little longer to "work" than the other ankle.

[Harriet Vane]

Sorry to say it, but it can take months to heal a sprain.

 

I strongly suggest you see a doctor and consider physical therapy as well.

[tarana]

I sprained my foot and ankle. There was ligament tear in the little toe. It was swollen & bruised for 6 weeks. I was on cruthes for 6 weeks & had to keep the foot up all the time. Since it was my right foot no driving. After the blood clot started breaking up (6-8 weeks) I did PT for 4 weeks.

The foot was not able to bear weight & used to swell up if I walked. It took 6 months to heal. But I could not wear dress shoes with heels or jog for a year.

Sprains heels slower than fracture. For a fracture you have cast which provides support so can go about your daily routine. With sprains whenever you are using the sprained ankle you are stressing the injured muscles and slowing down the recovery process. So rest the ankle & after 3 days use a warm pad for the pain. If the pain does not reduce in 3-4 days I would go see a Dr.

Edited August 8, 2010 by tarana

[Lolly]

Mine have been anywhere from a few days to over a year. It really just depends.

[jenniferlee]

well, seeing a dr. seems out of the question right now - no insurance. I don't think it's that bad, either. I can walk on it, just not very comfortably. And after a while it starts to ache. Weeks or months sounds bad :(

Would wrapping it help at this point? I haven't wrapped it at all because I didn't have anything to wrap it with and just never thought of it until my brother asked me about it today...

 

thanks for the feedback. I'll try to stay off of it more.

 

Jen

[JenneinCA]

In mid June I sprained and broke my ankle playing hopscotch with my kids. I was on crutches for two weeks and could mostly walk on it after that. At the appointment I was officially off the crutches I was given an air cast and told to wear it for SIX MONTHS.

 

The ankle is actually alright for most normal stuff but my risk of reinjuring it and causing really big problems is very high until the ligaments heal completely and that takes a long time. That is the reason for the air cast for six months, not really to make it get better faster but to keep it protected while it heals. Ligaments just take a long time to heal.

 

My Christmas present for myself this year is going to be freedom from the air cast and a new pair of sneakers. I hope your ankle heals quickly and you do better than I did.

[ChemMommy]

you probably need a split more.

 

This could take several weeks to heal and you can do some exercises soon to help rebuild your ligament.

 

After a couple of weeks, take a couple of pantyhose an wrap them under your foot. Sit in a chair and pull up on the hose. Now, point your foot, exerting pressure against the pantyhose. Repeat 10-15 times. Change the position of the pantyhose so that you are rotating your foot toward the outside and inside of your foot. Have your kids hold the hose so you can pull your foot up toward your knee.

 

Finally, balance on your sprained ankle. When you can do this for 30 seconds, do it with your eyes closed. When you can do that, put the "good" foot in the air in front of you, behind you, etc. This exercise strengthens your ankle ligament, protecting it from future falls.

 

All in all, you are probably in for a longer than expected recovery!! Sorry! But, there are the exercises my PT told me to do.

[rookie]

well, it depends on how much damage you did. in my case it took 6 months including surgery and pt.

[Lolly]

well, seeing a dr. seems out of the question right now - no insurance. I don't think it's that bad, either. I can walk on it, just not very comfortably. And after a while it starts to ache. Weeks or months sounds bad :(

Would wrapping it help at this point? I haven't wrapped it at all because I didn't have anything to wrap it with and just never thought of it until my brother asked me about it today...

 

thanks for the feedback. I'll try to stay off of it more.

 

Jen

 

Definitely wrap it. It will give support while the joint is more unstable. It will also help to keep it from swelling when you are walking on it.