Hurt my ankle on holiday wwyd

[Ankleidiot]

I am in a very big EU city with my DC and I tripped over and have badly sprained my ankle. I am not letting my DC know quite how bad it is, but I heard a loud pop when I did it, it’s incredibly swollen and painful so I am prepared it’s a bad sprain that will take a while to heal.

I’ve been to a pharmacy and am treating it myself (RICE method) as best I can in a hotel. I don’t have long of my trip left so I can sort the longer term ankle situation out when I get home so I am trying to suck it up as unfortunate. I am insured but I do not want to ruin my DC’s trip by spending all day in a medical facility sorting out an ankle sprain, or not being able to get out and about anywhere on our last day. However I can’t walk very far. I don’t think going to get medical help will change that either, they are just going to tell me to rest it. Rock and hard place.

I have a metro card to get about. Any suggestions of how to enjoy a city break without being able to walk very much? 😞 Put it this way, until I hurt it we could easily walk more than 10 miles a day sightseeing, and we do not have the money left to get taxis everywhere. We have 8 hours between checking out of our hotel and our flight!

Do you need to take dd? Ask p to send you a copy over.

Surely your adult child would want you to get medical treatment.

Try to keep it moving, write numbers/ letter in air with your foot, also elevations up onto ball of foot leaning against sink or table.

OP kindly, you're being bonkers.

If it's not broken (and you're telling yourself it's not broken) then it won't need a cast.

Even if it is broken it might not need a cast.

If you end up leaving it 48 hours between injury and assessment/treatment then you are risking serious further damage.

Please show your DC what to do in these circumstances. This is why you have insurance.

I popped my ankle. It was broken.

Get it checked urgently unless you want problems for years / life. You'd probably have a boot, not a cast.

I can't believe you're doing this for an adult child!! This is insane, they'll be totally fine.

If the airline catch you limping they may well refuse to let you board. You can fly with a cast but you'll need a doctors certificate. Honestly I think it's madness not to just get it sorted now.

If you have an adult child can't they just do what they want and you plonk yourself down in a cafe for a few hours?

Give yourself plenty of time at the airport and consider ringing to book emergency assistance so you don't have to stand in line for ages, they should be able to pop you in a wheelchair and whizz you through the airport.

If your child is an adult, why do they have to go with you? Can't they occupy themselves while you go to A&E and get your ankle x-rayed? The doctors there will be able to advise you on whether you should be flying, too.

Not having information about what's wrong with you isn't going to make the problem go away. Ignoring it isn't going to make the pain go away. Why wouldn't you go to get it checked out?

You haven't said where you're on holiday, but the couple of times I've been to A&E in Brussels, I've been seen quickly and they've been clean and relatively quiet places. It's not a terrible place to spend time, especially if you need to see a doctor for an x-ray.

France and Belgium - and I assume other EU countries - also have an out of hours GP service that will come to your house/hotel to look at you if you can't get to them. Maybe ask your hotel if there's anything similar where you are, if you're dead set on not just going to the hospital.

Sounds like your Achilles to me. Ouch.

A city bus tour would be a good idea to use up some of the day. One where you can hop on and off at different tourist spots. You can sit with a coffee while your DC explores. Or, in some cities, you could get a day ticket for public transport and make up your own route to take in various sights, which would be even cheaper. You need to plan as little walking as possible.

I did similar once on Italy, popped so loud a tourist yelled out on my behalf! It was a ligament on my ankle bone not Achilles.

I am not going to drag DD out to a hospital now it’s late.

DD is an adult just go yourself, she can be left? if you need her you can call her to come over. You could potentially be doing yourself such a serious injury by walking on a break etc, get to the hospital tonight and see what’s what

Just go to hospital for goodness sake. All this faffing about you could've been dealt with by now.

It sounds like when I fell down and tore 2 ankle ligaments. Almost a year later and I'm still suffering. You should spend all day tomorrow with your foot up. The more you move, the more damage you might do to it.

I did similar a couple of years ago, went over on ankle and felt a pop/ping - turns out I tore the peroneal tendon. It was extremely painful and could not walk properly for quite some time. Even now it aches if I have a day on my feet.

I understand where you are coming from, it's definitely wisest to seek medical attention but I would be inclined to do the same if it were me with flight home in 24h- keep off the foot as much as possible, eg bus tour, cafe then taxi to airport, get yourself home and then looked at. Especially as you've not brought your GHIC.

Did it just happen today though? If so be prepared for it to be much worse when you wake up. You may need DC's help to move in the morning.

Also, unless contraindicated you need to take aspirin...with reduced mobility you don't want to get a clot.

I did my ankle in playing sport once. Jumped up landed funny and it rolled under me with a pop. I thought it was broken but it was a torn ligament. It took me about a minute to walk 20 metres for a long time and no medical treatment could have changed that.

Practically speaking you are going to need to get a pair of crutches from somewhere if you intend on walking any distances. Even then you should rest it as much as possible

I just did it today, I haven’t had it the whole trip and I will be home in 24 hours. I had it elevated for a couple of hours now I can’t put my heel down on the floor at all it’s so stiff, I don’t have any pain or anything at the back/calf/heel. The swelling is all over the front of the foot. I think the swelling is causing it to be really tight and stiff. Moving the compression bandage to look underneath is so painful it makes me feel sick, but it’s that nasty swollen kind of tender surface skin pain where you are literally brushing against all the swelling. It feels like there is a very tight band around my foot, below my ankle - across the top of my foot that goes underneath as well

If I can’t walk at all I will have no choice but to go to hospital tomorrow. No I'm not leaving my DD alone in a city at night to go to hospital we will stick together and go tomorrow.

You do not have to wait months. That is just nonsense.

I think you should go to urgent care/AandE now, rather than in the morning when you've checked out of your hotel, even if it's a bad sprain, it'll be worse tomorrow morning. Your DC can go with you to keep you company and help you get there.

You have health insurance so you'll be fine.

If you can't get around on it tomorrow, talk to you hotel and explain that you need a late check out/day rate for tomorrow so you can lie down with your foot elevated. Your DC can put and sightsee for a bit if they want.

You are being quite bonkers.

Your dc is an adult. Can't you leave them in the hotel room? Or can't they come to A&E to help you?

Unless there's some reason you can't leave them, like SEN?

Your ankle needs treatment NOW.

DD wants to get an earlier flight, this is £300 for us both. I am on hold to the insurance company to see what help they can offer or where I would need to go and how much it would cost me. I have some money to pay up front if they will pay it back but I am nervous about this. I know I can use the GHIC option as well I will talk to them first

This is a good idea @Ankleidiot

The insurance company is being a pain, I got though then it cut off. Now on hold again to their 24/7 helpline

I can’t apply for the GHIC temp thing until I know which public provider to choose. It’s 11pm, dark and cold, I don’t know this city, can’t walk and hotel reception is closed. DD has a stinking snotty head cold coming on and we are both exhausted. She isn’t very confident (young nervous adult) on her own in a strange city where she doesn’t speak the language

I don’t want to change any flights before speaking to insurance but at this point I am tired and fed up so sorely tempted to pay £300 to fly home early afternoon and get a bolt to the airport and write off this city break as a very expensive disaster

A pop is what I felt when I broke my ankle.

I've had lots of sprains, a couple more painful than said broken ankle but I've never had bruising with a sprain.

I suggest you suck up the extra cost and come home ASAP, go straight to a&e.

Keep an eye on circulation in your foot though, any sign of impaired circulation (colour, capillaliary refill) then don't wait - get yourself straight to the nearest a&e in whatever city you're in.