Twisted ankle

[~purpose]

I twisted my ankle this morning while out walking in a field. Big nasty crunchy noises came from my right ankle and I was in a fair bit of pain almost immediately.

I managed to wiggle all my toes and get back to my car - and drive home, thank goodness - so I'm sure I haven't broken anything.

Assuming (for now, anyway) that my foot is not about to drop off... what is the best plan of action?

Cold compress? Leg raised? Lashings of tea and sympathy? It hurts a lot but getting to a hospital to get it checked out is impossible right now :0(

[Goodsoulette]

Rest it for at least a couple of days. Elevate it. Use ice packs, every 4 hours for 20 minutes at a time. In a couple of days if you are still having pain you can alternate between ice and heat packs. Compression as well helps, get a bandage and wrap from your toes to just below the knee. You only need to do this for a couple of days though.

Your ankle will be weak and prone to this now, I went through a phase of drunkenly doing this and now have a huge bump on my ankle.

[bigmamma]

Ouch , you poor thing . Well , lashings of tea and sympathy , and chocolate too , naturally needed of course , but I would get it x-rayed especially as you heard a crunch and was in pain. Keep it elevated and an eye on the swelling meantime. :-) x

[legend758duo]

i fell at work 2 yerars ago and my ankle swelled up massively i had to do the leg up thing and read davinci code in a day whilst recuperating.
i do still get twinges in it as i dsmaged the ligaments or summit.
rset and read a book .

[Sasha13]

I play a lot of netball and have sprained my ankle in the past - very nasty, couldn't walk on it for a day or two. All previous advice is correct, ice, elevation and rest. When I strap my ankle I don't take the strapping as far up the leg as Goodsoulette suggested, but do what feels comfortable. Also, try to use a crepe bandage that you have to strap yourself rather than a tubigrip as tubigrip's don't really offer enough support - they're not tight enough. That being said, don't wrap a bandage too tightly!! When the ankle is strapped (after doing everything mentioned above), it will feel much better. Leave it strapped for a few days, then try to go without.

[~purpose]

So... to recap... do nothing for a couple of days, but read and eat chocolate... EXCELLENT!

I did something similar about 2 years ago (fell down the last few stairs at home onto the same ankle and had some minor crunching going on) and went to A&E then. They said I had torn some ligaments but I couldn't remember what advice they had given, so thanks for the info!

Off to tell everyone to be nice to me :0)

[oopsydoopsy]

Instead of ice packs, fill a bucket of cold water so that you can submerge your leg up to mid shin.Put in as many ice cubes as you can . Put your leg in and keep it in there for at least 5 mins - longer if you can . It is torture, especially when your bones start to ache, but is extremely effective Repeat every 4 hours if poss. Elevate in between each torture session. Horrible injury, like Goodsoul, I have a big fat bump on my ankle as a result !

[jules1968]

tell me, is this the original purpose??????

[Sasha13]

Yeah, tearing ligaments is a particular type of sprain (class 3 I think they call it) - flippin painful.

[dot.hawkes]

ditto that jules i was thinkin same

[jules1968]

well dot, i hope it is!

[~purpose]

Hang on... now THIS isn't sounding much like doing nothing but reading and eating chocolate... A BUCKET FULL OF ICE...????? :-o

Yikes.

'Original'...? As in 'the one and only'...?

[jules1968]

"the one and only" of course! Maybe the choc thing gave it away

[legend758duo]

thwe one and only???


is that chesney hawkes there???

[jules1968]

oh way better than chesney hawkes Legend!!!! if it is the original purpose !

[Katie~77]

Rest
Ice
Compress
Elevate

I'm fairly sure that's what I was told on first aid course.x

[whiskeysheri]

Oh, yay! I hope it is, Jules! :o)) x

[~purpose]

:0)

Thankyou, Katie, you're correct. I found the NHS Direct thing-a-ma-bob and called them - RICE is bang on.

Just looking for a suitable shelf to rest my right leg on, now. Ideally it's supposed to be ABOVE the heart... :-/

Ah, now, poor Chesney... I bet his mum thinks he's WAY better than anyone else.

[Katie~77]

Oh my God, I'm in shock!!!!! I can't believe I remembered something from that course!!!!! Does anyone know how to treat shock?????x

[oopsydoopsy]

dot hawkes, chesney hawkes, the original purpose ....I'm lost !!!

[oopsydoopsy]

Bucket of ice LOL !!