I sprained an ankle on Sept 3 doing step ups at the gym (55 lb dumbbells in each hand … stepped off the box wrong, and rolled my right ankle). I had swelling and and minimal bruising, which cleared up within a few weeks. The ankle is still tender, and painful when I extend my toes and rotate my foot laterally. I can run with no problem.
How long should an ankle sprain take to completely heal? At what point is it taking too long, and a trip to the doc is in order?
Good question. I’m in a similar situation except mine now feels ok but starts throbbing after running (I rolled it running).
I’m also interested in everyone’s answer.
This is my first post on this board but thought I should reply since I am going through a very similar situation.
I sprained my ankle on 9/22 running around on a soccer field and thought no big deal, its just a sprained ankle. There was lots of bruising for the first week and plenty of swelling. The day after I sprained it, I was on my feet for 8 hours. After two weeks and still being tender and swollen, I went and got an X-ray. Turns out I have a lateral malleolus fracture, apparently if you have a lot of bruising, that is a sign that there is a fracture. I could walk on it fine but this type of fracture is not load bearing so does not directly affect walking or running. Anyway, after consulting with an orthopod, his main concern is not the fracture as that “should” heal itself. It is the tendons. He said if they are not given adequate time to heal that it will lead to long term stability problems. The orthopod said no exercising for 8 weeks. He also gave me an air splint to wear to protect my ankle stability. There is also some chance that the fracture will not heal itself at which point surgery will be required. If I were you, I would go see a doctor. Its killing me to not work out but I figure its the end of the season and I would rather be out of commission for 8 weeks then to have long term problems. Good luck.
I’ve torn ankle ligaments four times, chipped the bone once, and sprained each less severely probably 5 times. With proper rehab and rest, if it’s only a mild sprain you shouldn’t be tender to the touch after 6 weeks. I’d say hang out in the pool for the week and if it’s still sore definitely see a doctor. You might want to get an x-ray regardless - you can’t necessarily feel that you’ve chipped or fractured the bone and if you have it obviously significantly changes the therapy regime. Anyhow, don’t mess around with this - improper rehab of an ankle sprain or fracture can really mess up your foot strike and the efficiency of your pedal stroke.
You could have an avulsion fracture of the distal fibula bone. Get an x-ray to rule this out.
I sprained my ankle the same day (Sept 3), rolled it during an extremely high impact activity, taking my 6 year old to school. Go figure. Anyway, it swelled up like a grapefruit and was completely black and blue. The best and most consistent advice that I got was to do ankle strengthening exercises w/ a resistance band and range of motion exercises 1 -2x per day. Range of motion is basically writing the alphabet 3x. PM me if you want the strengthening exercises. I took 2 weeks completely off running and swam with a pull buoy until about 2 weeks ago. i did go see a dr. after 3 weeks when I still had pain and he did xrays to rule out a fracture. He said it isn’t unusual for it to take 2 months to heal. if you are still worried, I’d go see the dr.
I’d get in for some film just to make sure you’re on the right track if you think something is amiss. I say this mainly because I was on the slab today for x-rays and am now satisfactorily (and legally) stoned awaiting the results. Hope it goes well…
I would have gone after 2-4 weeks. So yes, you should go get an x-ray to rule out a fracture.
As others have mentioned, tough threshold. Most grade I-II lateral ankle sprains heal unevenfully within 6 weeks and feel pretty good after 10-14 days with simple, PRICE principles.
But, there are a variety of associated injuries that go along with a “rolled ankle” (saw no less than 4 just today). A 5th met base avulsion fx (Jone’s fracture) is one that is often missed. Ankle joint diastasis (the dreaded “high ankle sprain”) is also not fun long term. Fibular avulsion fx are common, but not really a big deal. Peroneal tendon injuries ARE a big deal (and NOT ruled out with simple X-ray). Any medial ankle pain should be evaluated sooner since this is less common.
Listen to rroof.
My experience with a “high ankle sprain” is that it was almost 9 months.
Find out what you really have, and go from there.
-Jot
Thanks all.
Dr Roof … what is a high ankle sprain? My particular pain is located below the bony protrusion on the outside of my ankle. If it helps, the pain is most severe during stretching … for example, during a groin stretch (legs bent, soles of feet together) it is very uncomfortable, similarly during a hamstring stretch with the sole of my right foot against the lower left inner thigh, it hurts quite a bit.
I’ll see about making a MD appointment tomorrow.
You are not describing a high ankle sprain, but a more typical lateral collateral lig injury.
This is an injury of the tib-fib syndesmosis (a thick band just above the ankle between the 2 long bones in your lower leg) and/or the anterior inferior tib-fib lig. It can be missed on simple, non weight bearing, non stressed X-rays (esp at an urgent care, etc.). Typically slow to heal because of continued motion as there is some rotational motion/component at this “joint”. A large syndesmotic screw is sometimes placed if unstable or the ankle joint/gutter is widenend. Best to discuss with a specialist as there are issues with that as well.