Has anyone sprained an ankle?? Can't believe how much pain I'm in...

[JaneEyre70]

Walking the dog this afternoon in a silly old pair of fit flops (that DH has thrown in the bin!) and dog pulled suddenly - I went completely over on my one foot, bending it to the outside and nearly falling. I had a very short sharp intense pain that took my breath away, and somehow managed to hobble home with my shoes off. Thank god I was nearly home.
SInce then, it's swelled all around my ankle and the pain is making me feel sick....I've had ibuprofen, have covered ankle/foot in Movelat gel and have just had 2 cocodamol as the pain is so bad. I can't weight bear on it and have hobbled into bed with some help. I'm assuming I've sprained it according to NHS online but am worried by the pain more than my ankle itself..... has anyone else done this and can reassure me??

Yes it is hideously painful. Have done it several times quite badly. I would highly recommend physio once bruising/swelling has gone down to avoid repeats, improve flexibility and strengthen. Has the bruising come out yet? If it doesn't improve in a week or so you may want to get it xrayed.

Keep off it as much as possible for a day or two, ice packs, anti inflammatories but try to flex it gently ( write in the air with your toes, circles and pointing) . Don't do as I did last time which was shove it in a boot, drive and try to carry on with endless painkillers. Eventually it seized up on me and took months to get to normal.

Yes, it's incredibly painful. Mine swelled up beautifully with some spectacular bruising. If you still can't weight bear tomorrow, go to your GP in case you need to be referred for an x ray.

Are you sure you haven't broken it? I managed to fracture a bone in my foot and then walk on it for a week! It was painful and swollen, but when the pain didn't subside I got it checked out and there was a hairline fracture. Maybe worth checking out?

And I agree with LIZS about the physio. I self referred to NHS physio and it was really helpful. Only downside is that it took about eight weeks for the first appointment to come through and recover might have been faster if I'd been seen earlier.

Sympathy, OP, a bad sprain is rotten. I nearly passed out from the pain.

Go and have it checked. I've literally just had a moan to my DP about my ankle - I went over on it like you 3 years ago and martyred on. I had physio ages afterwards, but it's still unstable.

I fell over a rabbit hole 2 weeks ago and am really quite sore. I'm getting married in 5 weeks and after 15 mins in my wedding heels yesterday (2 sodding inches), it's been aching like fury all day. Gah.

So don't wait too long or they won't do much.....

You need to get it checked. Dsis thought she had a sprain - she'd broken it.

I have done this a lot (my very dodgy ankles "turn over" often). Do check with gp if it doesn't feel better soon. It's possible to chip/fracture the bone if the outer part of your ankle strikes the ground.

See how you are in the morning. I sprained mine living alone and had to crawl to the bathroom plus was crying taking my jeans off. Next morning it was massively better, so clearly a sprain and not a break. Fingers crossed for you.

And also - even if just a sprain it bloody hurts!

You need it X-rayed to exclude a fracture. I had a fracture after a minor ankle twist. Still gives me pain five years later. MIU or A&E in the morning.

You need it X-rayed to exclude a fracture. I had a fracture after a minor ankle twist. Still gives me pain five years later. MIU or A&E in the morning.

Last time I did his it was agony and when I spoke to the docs they said that actually sprains are often more painful than breaks as. Teams heal faster and there is generally less damage to the soft tissues which have more nerve endings in them.

You're completely entitled to feel sorry for yourself, whinge and moan.

Take ibuprofen and paracetamol alternating them each 2 hours. Alternatively get some diclofenac painkiller cream. (I can't remember the brand name!)

You can tear ligaments going over onto the side of your ankle and spraining it (voice of bitter experience) honestly I would get it checked. X-ray will probably be needed to rule out a break/fracture/chip and you may need crutches.
from personal experience a sprain particularly a bad one is far more painful than a break and can take much longer to heal fully.
Diclofenac painkiller cream is truly amazing as soupforbrains says, brand-named voltarol I do believe. Hope you are feeling less sore soon.

I have huge sympathy for you too. It is just so painful. I did the same and hobbled home, took some painkillers and went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night with the pain.

Dh took me to A & E, I was sure I had done some damage. However, I hadn't broken it and was told to just keep it up whenever I sat down. The hospital told me the best way to recover was to walk on it.........

Frozen pea ice pack too to help reduce the swelling

Another recommendation for getting it checked out at hospital. I fractured my foot earlier this year and convinced myself it was a bad sprain for a couple of days before getting it checked out and ending up in plaster for six weeks.

Thank you all so much, I was really starting to worry why it was hurting so much. The co codamol and bag of ice on it has eased it to a dull aching throb, rather than the sharp pain and I've got a pillow under it to raise it up. Will go to our local MIU in the morning if the pain is still as bad, they're only open 8 - 8.

You won't know if you've broken/fractured anything without an X-ray. I sprained my ankle badly, it was really painful for the first 24 hours, then started to heal pretty quickly after that. I think I was walking again by the 3rd day. Took a long time to get properly back to normal though.

Dh does this fairly regularly- the first time I saw him do it I was convinced he must have broken it he was in so much pain. A bag a frozen peas wrapped in a tea towel works well as an ice pack. Poor you - I hope the pain fades soon.

I had to spend several days getting up and down the stairs on my bum... that was dignified

Then hobbling around for at least a couple of weeks with a walking stick. It took about six months before it was healed, a year for the thickening to go and it still aches if I do a lot of walking. I suspect that I now have some arthritis in that ankle.

Oooh yes, sprained ankles are quite painful. I turned my ankle by putting it down a post hole in the front garden and it swelled and bruised something beautiful. I do agree with PP about the x-ray, just to be sure there is no fracture.

Another time I had actually fractured the cuboid bone on the edge of my foot after falling out of the front door, which I thought was just a sprain. It wasn't discovered until 18 months later when I had the above mentioned x-ray on the sprained ankle. Now that was fecking painful, and went on for a very long time and still aches occasionally now if i've been walking a long time.

I sprained my ankle falling out of a portaloo - I stepped out onto a patch of moss that was hiding a large hole. I was at a 100 mile running race with DH in the middle of nowhere. We returned to civilisation the next day, where I took myself off to the hospital. It was a bad sprain - airboot for two weeks. The bruising was spectacular!

I remain glad I didn't fall in to the portaloo!

Our strapping 6 foot very fit Spanish au-pair did this a couple of years ago (while playing with the kids). It was extremely painful - he was white as a sheet & very shaky too. The bruising was impressive as it healed - purple & green right up his leg & down his foot. Hospital gave him a 'soft boot' (like a strap on cast?), which helped.

Huge sympathy, it's very painful. I fell into a rabbit hole and sprained my ankle whilst dog walking about 8 weeks ago and it's still not right. If you can't weight bear, definitely have an X Ray. It could be broken. And so the physio exercises they will give you. It does help.

'Do the physio'...sorry!