Is my ankle broken? Different diagnosies.

[Sally246]

Hello,
I crunched my ankle very badly 3 weeks ago. I went to A&E for an x-ray and they said there was nothing wrong with it, and to walk on it after a couple of days.
After a week the pain was very very intense and the swelling and bruising extensive.
I went to a different A&E dept and was told it was a posterior melleolus break. I actually saw the small chip for myself on the x-ray. This was where most of the pain was, on the inner ankle, so it made sense that I'd broken it there.
I was told I could have done great damage to it, walking on it for a week, but that's what I was told to do!
A cast was put on but it didn't agree with me so I took it off as it was cutting off circulation and unbearable.
I struggled on for another week with no cast, but have gone to yet another hospital for an x-ray to see how it was getting on.
This hospital said there was, and had never been, anything wrong with it, and that I should have been walking on it all along!!!
They have told me to exercise it extensively, but I can't. The pain is extreme and I can hardly walk. It's still very swollen & bruised.
I'm too scared to try & exercise it as I was specifically told that this would cause great long term damage.
So who the hell do I believe? A consultant has said there has never been any break, so why are other doctors saying otherwise? He said it couldn't have healed in 3 weeks, so there had never been a break, yet another hospital happily put it in a cast & told me to give up my life for 2 months.
PLEASE someone tell me what to do! I can't keep going to different hospitals and getting totally opposite advice!
Thanks. (UK)

[grantyerman]

Thanks Yena. I saw a small chip on the x-ray for myself. 2 weeks later they say it's not there. How can this be? I've been to 3 hospitals now and 2 say no break, but one says it is broken. If I've actually SEEN the chip on the x-ray, how can it have just disappeared in a few days? I've wriiten to the hospital but they've just ignored me.

[Yena H Do, DPM]

go get another opinion.  you may have a bad soft tissue sprain.  instead of a permanent cast, get a removable and adjustable cast to help immobilize the ankle until then. i can't tell you if you have a fracture or not b/c i can't see your x-ray.
however, if you have a mild chip fracture and several hospitals are not picking it up, your fracture is not so bad.  you can walk on it but need to wear a cast.