I went wall climbing at a gym last weekend. When we were about to leave, I jumped from the top of a bouldering problem, maybe 10 feet, onto the heavily-padded ground. But as I was falling I noticed a small gap in the pads. One of my feet landed right in between these two pads. As soon as I landed my ankle was in a LOT of pain. I immediately got ice on it and kept it elevated. But I'm pretty sure I sprained it. What do you think, based on this picture? This was taken a bit more than 2 days later, once the bruise fully came in.
I almost walk without limping, so it feels like it's getting a lot better really quickly. So I'm not too worried.
OK, Official Volunteer Ankle Sprain Expert Midwife here: that's a sprain. You really shouldn't be walking on it much. It's pretty rare to sprain the INSIDE of your ankle, cuz those ligaments are stronger than the outside ligaments, but your description of the injury is a perfect example of how a medial sprain happens. You need to be REALLY CAREFUL with it, until all of the bruising and swelling resolves, because those ligaments are really stretched out and traumatized, and you are at risk of re-injuring it. No jogging, at all, until all the bruising is gone, and as little walking as possible. Keep taking Motrin every 6 hours. Keep icing it. You might want to wear an ankle wrap for a while, like a few weeks. And then: do you have access to one of those balance board things like when you were a kid? that will help strengthen the muscles/ligaments, but not until all the bruising is gone. (Why yes, I do have two children who had multiple ankle sprains and breaks, how did you guess?)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your input, Maggie. There's some bruising on the outside of my ankle too, but not as much, which means that it's probably a medial sprain? I've been wrapping it and icing it, and taking ibuprofen, and walking as little as possible. Should I see a doctor?
ReplyDeleteoh my gosh that looks terrible! super impressive bruise. be careful!!
ReplyDeleteOh yikes kiddo, that looks terrible. I'll defer to Maggie on this one. I wonder if you should dig up some crutches for awhile. Hmmm....that would be interesting to see on a bike. Be good to yourself!
ReplyDeleteIf you are able to weight-bear, it isn't broken. If you have any doubt about whether it's broken, you should see a doctor. Otherwise, there's not much to do except let it heal. Probably there's ligament damage, but again, if you can "use" it, there's not much a doc is going to do except tell you not to walk on it. I would definitely suggest researching how to tape it to keep it from twisting out/giving way while it's healing. There are great pull-on (like socks, almost) flexible splits for sprained ankle support, that you wear under your socks and shoes. The goal here is to not re-injury it. Next goal is to start doing strengthening exercises before you go jumping off any other 10 foot structure. For example.
ReplyDeleteAlright I'll invest in some sort of ankle sock/brace. How much and how often can/should I take ibuprofen? 800 mg 3-4 times a day seems like a lot, but is it recommended for reducing swelling?
ReplyDeleteCurrently, riding a bike is more comfortable than walking.