swollen ankle, still not healing

[Coromandel1980]

hello board, hopefully i posted this in the right spot.  

i have been having ankle problems since the end of july.  it's been about three weeks.  i thought i had sprained my ankle, but couldn't remember the exact incident that set it off.  one morning i woke up and took one step out of bed and my inside of my foot and around the inside of my ankle hurt.  it took some ice and stretching to get it "walkable" again.  i wrapped it, tried to stay off it, took advil etc.  nothing seemed to make the welling or moderate pain go away.  pain was always worse when walking on steps and worse in the evening and first thing in the morning.

after about two weeks, i thought it was getting better when i totally twisted it again at a church carnival.  it swelled up some more, and after a week of icing, rest, elevation, no improvement.  i went and had xrays, no broken bones, the doc basically told me nothing and gave me a plastic ankle splint.  i wore that for the past week, it seemed to be helping but here i am a week later and the swelling is still there, nothing totally severe, i have no bruising and it hurts when i stretch my foot, like something is pulling.

i have no health insurance and already dropped $200 last week for two xrays and a quick 5min exam.  so i guess i'm looking for anyone else that would have any suggestions / possible care things i could do.  thanks so much!  it's only my left ankle, the inside of it.  it's swollen around the ankle.

[Coromandel1980]

you are awesome!  thanks for the advice, i just had no clue what was going on. i'm going out right now to get a spandex type brace for my ankle in addition to my plastic splint. :)  hopefully this clears up soon!

[geminigirl1963]

I'm sorry you're having so much trouble wtih your ankle.

While it's good news that there is no fractures, it probably means that it's a soft tissue injury, which can take a good bit longer to heal (unfortunately).

to give your ankle more support as it heals, I'd keep using the spllint that the doctor gave you and also continue the other therapies you've been doing such as icing and elevation.  Also be sure to wear shoes that offer good support to help from reinjuring the ankle.

If you're still having pain and swelling in a couple of weeks, you may want to consult with an orthopedic doc to see about possibly getting a bone scan or something that may show a smaller fracture than a regular xray would.

Feel better soon!