Fell awkwardly on ankle - still in pain, no swelling

[NemophilistRebel]

I went over on my ankle about 4 hours ago and had a half hour walk back to my car. It was slow going due to the pain of walking on it but I could walk.
This makes me assume it’s not broken.
It’s also not swollen, so no sprain either?
But it still hurts to walk and hurts to the touch.
What could I have done?

It also hurts just resting doing nothing

I had an horrific fall a few years ago and tore all my ligaments but it was insanely swollen and very bruised (literally purple up both sides of my foot and ankle). I was shocked it wasn’t broken. I would rest, elevate and ice it tonight and see where you are tomorrow, as long as there’s no swelling or bruising, or any strange symptoms.

I sprained my ankle and didn't get much in the way of swelling, so it could still be that.

Hope it feels better soon.

Thanks @SinkGirl

Thanks @dustibooks - how long did yours take to stop being painful and did you do anything with it?

I had a horrific ankle injury less than 2 years ago - no swelling is a good sign, I would ice and elevate this evening and some anti-inflammatory painkillers like ibuprofen. If its still throbbing/really painful tomorrow get it checked as could be a sprain. Hope it feels better OP

I starved mine really badly and the bruising came out later that night. It was painful for many weeks and I was limping.

I found pics of mine the day I did it - the swelling in insane, my ankle just disappeared and the bruising started quickly along the foot but the ankle itself wasn’t bruised until a day or two later. It took so long to heal. How is it now?

@NemophilistRebel I put up with it for several weeks, and then happened to be seeing the nurse at our GP practice about something else entirely. She diagnosed it, and said it would take at least 6 weeks before it was better. 3 months on and it is still a bit iffy. All I did was rest it as much as possible, use Voltarol gel and kept it supported with some of that elasticated bandage thingy and warm with legwarmers.

I had similar about 4 weeks ago - I heard a snap, thought it was broken and couldn't walk or drive as out felt like it would buckle under the pressure.

It looked fine but was very tender, had an x-ray and turned out I had stretched a ligament which is apparently quite common. I was given a splint thing which really did help!

It still hurts a bit at the end of the day but I was told they can take up to 12 weeks to fully heal.

Ice, elevation and either paracetamol or Ibroprofen to bring the swelling down. If you have a bandage or tape to support it then use that too. The longer you leave it the longer it take to heal.