Sprained/Twisted Ankle

Former Member

Hey all,

My husband has managed to hurt his ankle at work today and we are in two minds about whether to go to the hospital or not.

He went down on uneven ground and twisted it... it swelled up at the ankle and hurt like hell but he continued to work for the day albeit in a lot of pain and just about putting weight on it.

Came home and rested it for a while and he now seems to be in more pain. I wonder whether this is just down to it siezing up a bit as it is rested. He currently has it elevated with frozen veggies on it.

Is it worth getting it checked out? Would prefer not to go to A&E if we can help it but will do if we think it is necessary.

Does anyone have experience of similar and did you bother going to hospital?

Thanks!

Splodgey

Former Member

As a general rule if he can put weight on it without it hurting more then he's not broken anything major.

Obviously the standard advice is to get medical attention if you are worried. If you do go to A&E then crack of dawn can be a good time to go, rarely busy that time of day.

In the mean time elevate it for 15 mins at a time, and by elevate it means toes higher than his nose, sleep with it slightly up, on a pillow maybe and ice for 15 mins at a time.

Former Member

Oh, and ibuprofen ibuprofen ibuprofen.

Personally as he's been walking around on it all day, I'd do what I said above and if I was still concerned enough when the alarm goes off at 6 am tomorrow I'd take it to A&E/Walk in or whatever.

Former Member

i fucked up my ankels skateboarding when i was 11 and had so many problems with it but always: put ice on it, compress it (with the ice pack if its a bendy one or a pack of peas), and ellivate above heart level if possible.

use ibuprofen, try a support bandage, and go to a walk in centre if its still a problem in 48 hours

Former Member

Thanks for your advice guys, kind of what we have decided on...

Although it is extremely painful he is able to put weight on it which puts my mind at rest... I am off to get him a tubigrip/bandage later so he can strap it up for work tomorrow as nothing i can say will convince him to take the day off (self employed). Will continue to ice and elevate it and hopefully things will improve... no doubt it will hurt when he first gets up tomorrow but as long as he takes it easy he should be ok.

If it is still causing him a lot of problems tomorrow we can always get him to urgent care/a&e then.

Thanks again

Former Member

Sounds like a reasonable plan.

Just two things, don't leave it strapped overnight. If it's really causing problems then good old elastic bandage is more supportive than tubi grip. The self sticking stuff is not bad, but unless you put a sock over it has a tendancy to not self stick too well after the first couple of applications.

Get him some ibuprofen if he can take it and you haven't got some, much better than paracetamol or aspirin for this kind of stuff as it also acts as an anti inflammatory.

Oh, and stick a pillow under his foot tonight.

Former Member

Well he took the tubigrip off last night but refused to try and elevate it in bed (typical man).

Things were ok today, strapped it up and wore thick socks to work... he was able to put weight on but was still very painful. Bruising has now come out good and proper so hoping it will be on the mend soon enough.

Keeping him dosed up on ibuprofen so fingers crossed swelling will stay down and he will see improvements each day.

Thanks for all your advice

Former Member

I know he won't listen but it's worth a try, if he will put it up at night, even just a single pillow under his feet, then the bruising and swelling will go down a lot faster.

Former Member

I'd suggest perhaps a Vulkan ankle support for when the swelling goes down aswell, especially if he does anything sporty. The ankle will be quite weak for the next few months and susceptible to another sprain.

Indrid Cold

Mine was just a swelling (no pain, even when I pressed it) but while I had it for almost a month, it went down in 2-3 days when I slept with a pillow under it.
It could have been a coincidence, but it's definitely worth trying...