Sprained ankle still bad 12 weeks later

[HopHopLittleBunny]

I sprained my ankle 12 weeks ago and am still in pain with it, had to take ibuprofen today as it is bothering me that much. It still swells if I do too much and I don’t have full movement. I can lift it fine, but can’t physically flex it all the way down or sideways.

I went to hospital at the time and the x-ray showed it wasn’t broken. It was slightly swollen and bruised but nothing bad like the black and blue photos you see.

I’ve seen lots of posts about sprains taking months to heal and I’m just wondering if there was anything in particular that eventually made it heal, it’s really starting to get me down now.

See a physio - your gp can refer you or you can go privately.

I sprained my ankle a year ago

I'm still under Physio

How old are you? As you get older it's no lie that it takes longer to recover from injuries. My wife is the toughest human being I've ever known: never complains about anything. e.g. I accidentally dropped a paving slab on her foot while she was wearing wellies: it broke two toes - she didn't make a fuss or even mention it - that type. We were walking through the woods one November, fallen leaves everywhere and she got the front of her foot stuck under a protruding tree root that wasn't visible under the leaves - in trying to pull her foot out she fell backwards and twisted onto her side : her foot didn't come out from under the tree root. It was a bad twist to her ankle - she just didn't want to fall on her arse. She limped back to the car and I drove her up to A&E straight away as she thought her ankle might be broken - the x-ray showed it wasn't. It took a year to mend - I know because it was her birthday when the accident happened and a year later we were also out on another birthday walk and remembered the accident - it still wasn't completely back to normal then. This was a couple of years ago so she would have been 60-61-ish. The swelling took a long time to properly die down but the pain lasted most of that year. The dark purple and yellow bruising did take a lot more than month to disappear. Hopefully you fair better but 12 weeks does not sound like long to me TBH - I'd recalibrate your expectations of I were you.

Basically she just got on with waking the dog and spending as much time in the garden as normal - she's the "use it" rather than "avoid using it" type - she doesn't know how to relax and put her feet up anyway - doesn't matter what I say or do.

Soft tissue injuries can take longer than breaks to heal

Mine took from May to Sept to fully recover

Goodness me. I unfortunately broke my ankle last week and I was hoping to be recovered in 6 weeks. ☹️

I sprained mine and after X-ray had found it wasn’t broken I was advised to rest it as much as possible and if it was still very painful after 6 weeks to see my GP. Unless you are older or have any relevant medical conditions, I’d expect it to be really starting to improve after 3 months. I found sprain more painful and slower to heal than a straightforward break but it needs checking out if it’s still so painful after 12 weeks.

I've had two or three nasty ankle sprains including one aged 16 and one aged about 50ish. Also broke a metatarsal aged about 55.

I think foot/ankle injuries are slow to heal, probably because we are on them all the time and we should be. Complete recovery has usually taken about a year at whatever age. Physio helps, a footstool helps, boots in winter help.

One particularly tricky sprain had me referred to a very experienced orthopaedic bod. He handed me a walking stick and showed me how to use it properly - you move it forward with your good leg. It really took the pressure off the bad ankle and significantly eased the discomfort and swiftly aided healing. and yes everyone laughed

I sprained mine in July and it's not fully healed yet though swelling finally subsided in the last month and it's not painful to walk on. I went to the physio and they gave me rehab exercises to do.

I had a sprain that wouldn't heal. Eventually I saw an orthopaedic doctor who specialised in ankles. It was a talar dome fracture, just visible on the x-ray. Had an MRI to confirm, then supposedly minor surgery to fix it. Unfortunately the cartilage lesion was much bigger than originally thought (because I'd been walking on it for 9 months thinking it would get better. Minor surgery because slightly more major!

Anyway, I recommend seeing an ankle specialist to rule out anything untoward, then a physio.

I had a later sprain where I completely detached some ligaments - mine were very loose, which was why I had a lot of sprains. They were reconstructed in a third surgery.

Now I need an ankle replacement... but that's after 20 years!

Thank you for all the replies.

Sorry I should have said I have done the referral for physio and my appointment is still 4 weeks away,

@BallerinaFall did the physio consider sending you for scans? A year feels like a long time to be in pain. Are you still in pain or is it just not quite right?

@larkstar your poor wife, that sounds a lot more traumatic than mine. I simply went over on it due to some uneven paving. I’m clinging on to my 30’s so surely this isn’t lingering because of age? I too have quite a high pain threshold and I am getting on with using it, I have two small children, I have no choice. I was climbing limping up a lighthouse the next day as we were on holiday when it happened. I suspect that not being able to rest it in the first couple of days might be what’s caused it to get so bad.

@bows101 don’t panic, I keep being told sprains take longer to heal. I hope you recover quickly!

@Costacoffeeplease on the basis of your recovery, I’ve got one more month to go. That gives me hope, the end is in sight!

@AllLopsided Could you weight bear with the fracture? Googling the symptoms I’m not sure that’s what I have as I can physically weight bear and walk on it.

I have noticed that I am walking on the side of my foot, to get my foot flat on the floor I’m having to move my knee inwards.

Sprains really do not get the sympathy that they deserve!

Six weeks might be pushing it. Although I could drive easily at 7 weeks as it wasn't weight bearing. I lost the boot at 6 weeks and just walked with crutches.
I was slow walk / jogging again by week 9. Very much almost back to normal with running by week 14. Bloody thing still feels tight in the morning though, I think that's that muscle and not the bone.

Sprains do seem to be a different kettle of fish. One which I never want to experience!

Definitely see a physio. When I sprained my the pain got better but it felt weak and like it would go again any minute. I had one appointment with a physio and he said it had been knocked out of alignment and manipulated it back into place. The difference was immediate.

It's been 7years and that ankle is still weaker than the other, I can barely hop that side anymore but I can still run/exercise etc.

7 months later, mine remains painful and not fully flexible!

I think bones actually heal faster.

What have you actually been doing to aid it’s recovery.

Sprains need help to heal. Good old RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevation).

Without that, they’ll take a lot longer to heal and may never fully get there.

and elevation means higher than your heart. In practical terms, lying on the sofa with foot on the back of it, or on the floor with foot up on sofa. Ideal train playing position.

@Roserunner I suspect I might have something similar as I don’t fit the symptoms of a broken foot and it gives me hope there might be a quick fix. I’m going to look into this more and see if I can get a private physio appointment this week.

@ScaryM0nster yes I have been doing rest, ice and elevation, lots at the start and now tbh I do it when I know I’ve used it lots and it’s going to flare up. The hospital never actually told me to do compression though, so I haven’t done anything other than trying to wear more supportive shoes.

@HopHopLittleBunny @ScaryM0nster yes - my wife had 2 ice packs on rotation (one in use, one in the freezer) and used them a lot - about 25-30cm long by 10-15cm wide - wrapped in a tea towel and then wrapped around her ankle. It annoyed the hell out her that such a long standing injury could happen so easily. She thought her ankle might have broken because she has quite slim legs but they said from the x-ray she actually had quite strong, thick bones - possibly helped by a lifetime of doing so much walking.

Hi again @HopHopLittleBunny - I could bear weight but only just! I was struggling to get from the car to work during the first week or two, and even walking around the house was slow and painful. It was extremely swollen and bruised, more so than any other sprain I've had (and I've had a lot), which I think is an indication that it was something more.

A talar dome fracture is a not usually a big fracture, unless your foot gets smashed up in a car accident or big fall. The twisting of the ankle causes the cartilage to tear and basically rip off some of the top of the talus (the chunky bone between your leg and your foot). Ouch!

I had an x-ray after a month but the radiologist/GP didn't spot it. It was only the orthopaedic consultant that noticed it and I didn't see her for 9 months. After the first couple of weeks I could walk more and it did improve over time (I suppose the other damage healed).

Back to the physio and it appears I have damage to my tibialis posterior

So new exercises.