sprained ankle...what to expect
 

well i sprained my ankle a week ago and have had it wrapped up. i decided to go to x ray it and they found a calcified chip in there, but no new fractures. I go to a podiatrist last night and he puts me in a soft cast. about 2 hours later i am in the worst pain in my life..so bad i had to cut the cast off in the night...3 tylenol 3 with codeine wouldn't even dent the pain...on a scale of 1-10 it was a 15. i am home today from work and in agony...a bit less than last night but still in agony. how is this possible? he told me that i had a tender tendon from the sprain(tendonitis)...how longdoes it take for this to heal?

I sprained my ankle 10 years ago, but it was nothing like that. I went to the doctor and all I got was crutches. I was on them for about a week.

I sprained my other ankle 6 years ago. And it wasn't even bad enough for crutches, I just limped around for a week.

Why would he put a soft cast on it? I would think the swelling in a confined wrapping would cause problems.

Easy money.....
;)

Whatever happened to ice, an Ace bandage, and limping for a couple of days?

there is no real swelling, just pain.

see the $ part is why i try not to go to doctors...they just care about $ here. the pain is too severe to let it go..i cannot walk anymore

compression ice and elevation.............stay off of it.
Those are the fastest ways to recovery.
Get yourself some hightops for your rehab in the weeks to come.

K.T.
1973 911 E 2.4 MFI
1983 911 SC
1965 Devin "D" - 1967 912 Power Plant

Jack Daniels?

Sounds like more than a sprain if it's that bad.
Unless you're a *******....
:D

helped with a ER study a few years back..heard this over and over again..'been better if you broke it'..true..we casted 50/50 on the sprains..cast folks came out ahead in the recovery.
your pain being a 15...something is way wrong..get it rechecked..and casted
Rika

And if cast, was the recovery time faster? Or was there better mobility? Was there a lower instance of re-injury?
Now I'm curious, coming from the age of ice, elevation, compression...

A weeks worth of dvd's and a bag of reefer...you'll be fine.

Spoken like a true professional...
:D

Please be careful when taking too much Tylenol. Your liver will thank you.

Recovery was faster, most folks, when told to rest, use the crutches and all that stuff.., don't listen, you know it's hop hop and crash, and then the one foot / ankle they should have been protecting is the last one to strike the ground ...just before you do.
mobility improved somewhat faster, but still better than the No casted group.
re-injury..less likely as your casted.
Rika

I'd rather be a good liver than have one....

Makes sense. My question regarding reinjury was more around incidence of reinjury after the cast was removed. You know how after you've sprained an ankle, you tend to keep reinjuring it for a period of time after-wards. In other words the joint seems to be weaker or more susceptible to injury...

That is very true, once comprised..it's never the same. And the next round will take longer to heal, and always told to us as to being more painful / even if the injury event was less so than the first.
Rika

they gave me mobic for the pain. the dr told me that the nerve is being pinched ...funny how he just wrapped away. still hurts like a 10 on a 10 scale....i am going to the hospital tomorrow in morristown i think.

i've sprained both ankles as a kid
both times there was huge swelling

had cast the first time
soft, stretch tape the second time

both times, no pain if no load

,

no Dr. nor do I play one on TV..but the last thing you need on a pinch is more pressure I would think..get it checked..
Rika

Ask them for the cooler with the cold wrap...then follow Rika's advice. Compression elevation and ice. Get it checked ASAP.

Just had the metal taken out of my ankle, wish I'd have had the cooler when I first broke it.