Ankle injury

[Whatawoman72]

11 Days ago - I went over on my right ankle...I fell to the ground, grazing my left knee, for about 5 minutes I couldn't weight bare at all then for about 30 minutes I hobbled (I was fetching my daughter from school so had no option to ice, strap, elevate or rest).

By the time I was home I was able to walk on it okay- but couldn't flex the foot without pain or twist... by the evening it had swelling around the ankle bone but no bruising ( bit of a shock as I am on warfarin for AF and so bruise pretty easily).

I am a single Mother and so when my daughter came down with illness the next morning my chance to go and seek medical care dissapeared... so I iced, elevated and strapped my ankle, convinced it was just ligament or tendon damage.

5 days after the injury I went to the minor injury clinc and they xrayed my foot which looked strange as my ankle bone was engulfed in the swelling..... the x ray showed no sign of fracture so I was sent away and told to continue with iceing, and resting and to take pain killers.

Now I am at the point, 11 days later, where I wake with little swelling, but by the evening I have a pocket of swelling under the ankle bone and to the rear of it -  although there is no open wound if I was unable to see the injury I would swear it was an open wound as it has a soreness that you get with such an injury... I can not lie on that side in bed as the ankle touching the matress is very uncomfortable. Driving a car is painful as moving from the eccelarator to the break is extremly painful without moving my whole foot instead of swivelling on the ball.

If as it seems this is tendon/ligament or soft tissue damage how long should it be before I see improvement and should I be seeking further medical advice at this time?

Thank you for any thoughts :)

[Whatawoman72]

Thank you for taking the time to reply -  I am shocked at the soreness and aching and swelling that has come with this injury -  I can almost say it is more discomfort than when I broke my wrist..... but of course that was totally immobalised in a  plaster cast!

Thank your for your advice, I have no applied a crepe bandage and a tubular bandage over the top and will rest it as much as I can :)

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

This indeed does sound like a soft tissue (ligament/ tendon) injury after the x-rays have rule out a fracture; but with the kind of treatment you are giving to it, it is unlikely to heal fast. One must understand that even though it is a soft tissue injury, it should be taken good care of, to promote healing. Aside ice packs and painkillers like NSAIDS, it is also important to immobilize the joint for 1-2 weeks. You may apply a crepe bandage around the joint for the same. Avoid putting weight or stress to the joint. Activities like driving should be avoided (unless you can drive without moving the joint by putting direct pressure from the heel) for about 2 weeks following the injury. Try to keep the leg elevated while lying down and avoid dependent position of the ankle for too long. Hopefully you should recover in a couple of weeks.
Hope this helps.

Take care!