plansrme Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 I sprained an ankle, badly, July 4th weekend. I did not go to the dr because he was going to say, "Yep, that's a sprain alright. ice it, take some Advil. That'll be $12,000." I went back to running on it in a few weeks, and it's mostly okay. But I noticed while struggling with a ski boot last week that it's still swollen. The outside of my right ankle, where you have a (typically) little knob, is visibly larger than the knob on the left ankle. The ankle swelled to the size of a lemon almost instantly. It is not nearly that big, but it IS still bigger. And I do feel twinges from the ankle once in a while. Anyone ever have a sprain still swollen this long after? Did it eventually go down? Did you do anything about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 I sprained my right angle falling on the stairs in college in early 90s. Everyone including the university health services estimated 3 weeks to recover and I took 3 months. Still have to wear ankle guard when that ankle feels loose. No residue swelling after three months though, just that weak ankle is even more prone to sprains. I do wear mostly boots or hi-cut sneakers because of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 I did something to my knee (probably a sprain, but it was never evaluated by a doctor) back in 1981, and it has been somewhat swollen ever since. I also got a bruise in 2002 that never completely went away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 Ankles are really, really complex, and the recovery takes a long time. If you sprained it "badly", as you say - which I take to mean that you couldn't put weight on it when it happened - then you definitely should not have been running on it after only "a few weeks", and that probably kept it from healing properly. Not that ankles like to heal properly, tricky evil things that they are. Have you at any point done any exercises to help the healing process? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 I did the same thing as you after an injury - much to my regret. scar tissue can cause the swelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 I've sprained my right ankle many times. It can take a very long time for the twinges to go away. Still feeling some at six months out isn't unusual, IME. At some point the "ball" of my right ankle became permanently swollen or enlarged. But usually it only bothers me when my RA is flaring and I'm feeling it in other joints, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 Are you sure it wasn't broken? In any case, a sprain can take a long time to heal. I fractured my ankle a long time ago and had to have two surgeries. My doctor said I'd heal quickly but it took a full year to heal but it did heal completely. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 I badly sprained my ankle when I was training for a marathon 15 years ago. The doctor said it would have been faster to heal if I had broken it, and it might take 6 months or more to get back to normal. I'd probably start by getting it x-rayed to make sure it wasn't some sort of break (in addition to a sprain), like a stress fracture. Those can continue to get slowly worse until they turn into a serious break. It might also be arthritis or broken cartilage triggered by the initial injury. If you go through all that and find out it was just a bad sprain, this is one of the few times I'd recommend a chiropractor. Mine cracked my sprained ankle a few times two days in a row and the pain and swelling diminished. My ankle was still weak (it took 6+ months to not feel like I was on the verge of spraining it again), but the pain and swelling left. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted January 10, 2020 Author Share Posted January 10, 2020 20 minutes ago, Katy said: I badly sprained my ankle when I was training for a marathon 15 years ago. The doctor said it would have been faster to heal if I had broken it, and it might take 6 months or more to get back to normal. I'd probably start by getting it x-rayed to make sure it wasn't some sort of break (in addition to a sprain), like a stress fracture. Those can continue to get slowly worse until they turn into a serious break. It might also be arthritis or broken cartilage triggered by the initial injury. If you go through all that and find out it was just a bad sprain, this is one of the few times I'd recommend a chiropractor. Mine cracked my sprained ankle a few times two days in a row and the pain and swelling diminished. My ankle was still weak (it took 6+ months to not feel like I was on the verge of spraining it again), but the pain and swelling left. Hmmm. I might try a chiropractor. One did fix my daughter's ankle once, but I'd forgotten about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashfern Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 I first sprained my ankle when I was 10. Then I sprained the other one. My ankles have been problematic ever since. Now they like to give out at random moments which makes me fall. I have a neoprene sleeve that I wear when an ankle is acting up. It does take forever for the swelling to go away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted January 10, 2020 Author Share Posted January 10, 2020 1 hour ago, Kassia said: Are you sure it wasn't broken? In any case, a sprain can take a long time to heal. I fractured my ankle a long time ago and had to have two surgeries. My doctor said I'd heal quickly but it took a full year to heal but it did heal completely. Pretty sure, mainly because of the way I hurt it. Unless it was an avulsion fracture, and the ligaments pulled off a bone chip, I didn't put enough weight on it to break it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted January 10, 2020 Author Share Posted January 10, 2020 4 hours ago, EKS said: I also got a bruise in 2002 that never completely went away. That is amazing. Also makes my six months seem pretty paltry. . .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Try, really try to stay off it for a week or two. Ice it and wrap it and keep it above your heart as much as possible. I have had numerous ankle injuries. Sleeping with it above your heart helps with the swelling. I sleep on the couch with pillows piled high. If I seep in the bed with the same pillow arrangement, I tend to take my foot off the pillow so I can sleep in my usual position. I once had it so bad the dr threatened to cast me so I would stay off it. I ended up with a terrible case of the flu that ended up with a sinus infection, ear infection, and bronchitis. As a result, I could hardly move - my ankle improved greatly! Now, I am not advocating getting the flu, but stay off it and give it the rest it needs. It needs more than you think. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted January 10, 2020 Author Share Posted January 10, 2020 2 hours ago, Pawz4me said: I've sprained my right ankle many times. It can take a very long time for the twinges to go away. Still feeling some at six months out isn't unusual, IME. At some point the "ball" of my right ankle became permanently swollen or enlarged. But usually it only bothers me when my RA is flaring and I'm feeling it in other joints, too. The ball of my right ankle is exactly what is swollen. This only my first sprain of this ankle, though, and no RA (that I know of). It hurts only rarely. The swelling is mostly a vanity issue, I suppose! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 On 1/9/2020 at 8:19 PM, plansrme said: Hmmm. I might try a chiropractor. One did fix my daughter's ankle once, but I'd forgotten about that. Seconding that suggestion if you have a good one or a good referral. I sprained the top of my foot once, and it just kept getting worse. I asked my chiropractor to take a look at it, he manipulated it, and within 15 minutes the swelling was visibly reduced. It felt a lot better immediately. Within a few days, it was mostly back to normal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoeless Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 On 1/9/2020 at 4:02 PM, EKS said: I also got a bruise in 2002 that never completely went away. I have a bruise & knot above my ankle from 2 years ago. I was excited because it started getting a tiny bit smaller a few months ago, but that seems to have stopped. Bodies are weird. 🤷♂️ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 My sprain turned out to be a fracture with bone fragments. Swelling doesn’t correlate to the exact point of injury. I fractured my calcaneus (heel bone) but the swelling was where you describe. Also, RA typically doesn’t swell like that. (I have it too.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 Seeing as it's never been looked at or x-rayed, that would be my first move. Could be a lot of different things. Don't fool around on your own anymore. Your body is worth getting looked at by experts and pictures can help in diagnosis, provided they are good quality and the reader knows what they're doing. You need to walk for a few more years, and it will be nice to do this pain-free, if at all possible. 😉 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty356 Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 @plansrmehas your ankle gotten better? I’m having the same issue. My ankle is pretty much healed but still swollen and I don’t have the same range of motion as my other foot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted July 10, 2021 Author Share Posted July 10, 2021 16 hours ago, Matty356 said: @plansrmehas your ankle gotten better? I’m having the same issue. My ankle is pretty much healed but still swollen and I don’t have the same range of motion as my other foot It is still bigger than the other ankle, but it feels fine. I run on it with no problem (well, I have problems running, in that I need to lose 20 pounds and be in better shape, but it's not the ankle holding me back). Someone suggested scar tissue, so I have assumed that is what it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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