Sprained ankle pain

My 16yr old daughter sprained her ankle at cheerleading on Nov/10/2009. It was a very bad inversion sprain. We did not take her to the MD although we did have her ankle x-rayed and it was not broken or fractured. She was doing a jump when she came down on her left ankle and had the bone almost touch the floor, she did not fall over, periodically went to the nurse for ice and was able to finish the rest of the day at school (till 2:30 pm this happened at 6am practice). When I picked her up however the ankle was quite swollen which prompted the x-ray. We then came home and iced it again, elevated it, wrapped it with an ACE bandage, we also massaged it with Aspercreme and gave her motrin for pain. By the evening the ankle was at least double its normal size, toes also and up the calf were also swollen. The side of the foot became black and blue as well as the ankle and part of her calf. Now on 1/27/10, she can walk normally but her ankle still swells and is still slightly black and blue, with pain and the feeling to wan to "baby" it when jumping/running. Can you tell me what grade of sprain she might have had and when can we expect it to be fully healed? She still wraps it but not everyday, and of course it swells more when not wrapped. I did the same thing 30yrs ago and still have pain at times with a large separation between the bones of the ankle and the ability to sprain it easily and do not want her to have the same problems. Thank you!

[Dr Vinod]

Hello!

I would strongly suggest you an X-ray  for bony problems and if required MRI to diagnose ligament or muscle injuries.

You can grade it after the scans. If she has tears she needs to rest and also it is appropriate for bandaging her ankle.

Follow up with an orthopedician to rule out major problems and to avoid future complications.

Take care!