Would you go to a&e if you thought you had sprained your ankle?

[Awarethebear]

Hi, I ended up twisting my ankle whilst stepping off of a large step and onto unbeknownst to me slippy mud on the school run yesterday afternoon, it hurt straightaway but I was able to walk the twenty minute journey after ( in pain and with a limp). When I arrived home I noticed my ankle was swollen and after a couple of hours the bruising began. It's really painful to walk on almost 24 hours later, I'm wondering is it just sprained or could it be broken. Would you go to the hospital if this was you?

Cross posted with one above mine, our minor injuries can and do do x-rays, might be worth calling them to see first.

Also please ignore posters who try and convince you an ankle break is so bad you'd know and wouldn't be walking on it.

I've had both a sprain and a break (different ankles) and the sprain was immensely more painful than the break - painful enough that I actually passed out when it happened and needed months of physio. The break on the other hand was manageable pain but I was still in a cast for 9 weeks.

@Dinoteeth I can bare weight on it but it is very painful to do so.

I had the same dilemma. Phoned the GP for advice, they said it would need to be x-rayed in any case, so to go straight to a&e (in my case walk-in clinic was closer). Mine was broken. Btw, being able to wiggle your toes does not mean it's not broken.

Baring weight is meaningless op - it could be broken in two places and you might still be able to weight bare.

Check NHS online to see what your local A&E dept covers. Sometimes it’s both accidents and emergencies, but often they are for life-threatening emergencies only (eg. loss of consciousness, severe chest pain). If they only deal with emergencies, it should tell you where the urgent care center is, that would deal with sprains, broken bones, burns etc. If it’s painful after 24 hours you should get it checked.

A mate thought she sprained her ankle, turned out she also broke some bones in her foot. Its worth an x-ray at least so I would go to urgent care rather than a and e.

When DH injured his leg, he got back on his motorbike and continued home. 90 minutes later he carted off in an ambulance and spent 5 days in hospital. Being able to walk straight afterwards is not a sign of all being well.

Swelling, bruising, pain are signs on injury. Its probably better to know than to risk more injury longterm.

Ouch, poor you, yes go and get it checked out- maybe minor injuries if you have one near you

Go to A and E. I did very similar and waited four days by which point I couldn't walk at all. I was taken to A and E and they said it was definitely broken. Luckily the cast was a nice comfy fit as most of the swelling had already come out!

Ring up and get an appointment at an urgent care centre, ours is a different part of the hospital, but have the facility to send to xray. Would definitely do that. Nothing worse than a break, where you thought it was a sprain and it sets wrong and having the joy of having it re broken so it sets correct, otherwise you may have further problems in the future. Better to be safe than sorry, in my book.

In your situation I would. My brother did something similar and despite still being able to walk around he eventually went to A&E 3 days later and it turned out he had a really bad break. Its not always obvious so I think it's worth checking.

Can you go to a minor injuries unit? The one in my town has an X ray machine and you get seen way quicker than a and e. I went there when I injured my ankle running a couple of years ago.

Yes, only because someone I know thought they had sprained their ankle stumbling down a kerb. It started swelling short time later, then the bruising appeared. She was still walking on it. Went to hospital next afternoon, had an X ray and after x-ray was reviewed, it was discovered she had fractured part of her bone, which had been pulled way from the tendon. Foot continued to swell and bruise horribly. She would have done much more damage to it if she hadn't gone for an x-ray.

Have you done any first aid? Because it sounds like a sprain and if you'd been icing it, elevating it etc, it would be bruised but perhaps feeling a bit better and/or swelling going down.

If you've done the above and there's no change after48 hours it may well be broken. But I wouldn't be rushing there otherwise.

Thankyou for your replies everybody, when my partner gets home around six I will go to a&e, I can't go before then as I need to look after the children. We don't have minor injuries where we live.

I have plenty experience of ankle injuries and I'd recommend going to minor injuries unit (often attached to A&E). From what you say it sounds like a sprain - but you don't know what's going on. Fractures aren't always apparent immediately, and actually, torn ligaments etc... can be just as much of a nightmare. In fact several doctors have said to me that it can be worse than a fracture in many respects. If it's bad you may need physio at some point. I've had some bad ankle injuries and they've taken a long time to heal and needed physio etc.

It's certainly worth getting it checked out in any event.

@CavernousScream

It is absolute fucking madness to tell someone with potentially broken bone there’s ‘no way’ you’d go to hospital. For all you know the bone is displaced and she needs surgery to pin it.

OP, there are minor injuries units which are the ideal place for this. Go and get an X-ray.

This is mn you know. Nothing less than a snapped bone clearly protruding out of her leg is acceptable to go to a and e for 🙄 Op I’d go and get an x ray. And no, you will not get ‘looks of disdain’ for getting a potentially broken ankle checked out. You need to be diagnosed by a doctor, not the idiots on here

Definitely go, I've been for my own sprained ankle that happened when I was heavily pregnant, my daughters ankle that looked like a sprain but was actually a fracture and a torn calf muscle that was the most painful thing that's happened to me. Each time the staff were great, they won't be sneery or dismissive of you.

@SpiderVersed

Ice it and strap it, see how it goes.

It you had broken it, from experience I’d say you wouldn’t be walking.

I walked on a broken foot for over a week because I didn't think it was that bad. The only way to tell is with an xray.

Can you call 111? We get given a timeslot to turn up if we go through 111 rather than having to wait ages in A and E.

Also have alook to see if you have a minor injuries unit.

@Landedonfeet

Depends. Spare 8 hours to sit in a windowless crowded and often smelly waiting room. And then be rightfully treated to rather disdainful looks from very busy a&e doctors?

Oh do fuck off. It's not a broken nail. No one is going to give the OP "distainful looks".

RICE: Rest, ice, compression, elevation. And painkillers if necessary. Call 111 if it doesnt improve in a few days.

No.

My husband hurt his ankle at work, drove home (an hours drive) , told me he was going to get it looked at, it was hurting, but it wasn't too bad balanced on that foot just to show me! the next day he was in surgery having pins put in it because he had in fact broken it. I would go get it looked at just to be safe