I was doing step ups a little over 3 weeks ago, and my right ankle collapsed when I was switching legs and to make a long story short my right ankle rolled, it didnt rotate left or right, it just rolled.

I can sprint, jump, and lift just fine, but "rolling" my ankle or doing a single leg calf raise hurts it.

So, I guess what I'm asking is:

1) How long does a rolled ankle typically last for?
2) If I have no pain when I sprint or lift, can I continue doing both?
3) How can I treat my ankle?

Thanks!

-Steel

I roll my ankles alot - doc calls it slight sprain (twisted ankle). Sometimes they swell, sometimes not.
Typically they should be better in about a week.
If it's not better after a week, you should see a doc.
Just my opinion.

At the very least i would see your doc to have the injury evaluated just to make darn sure you are not walking on a break somewhere.generally, people with a break feel less pain sometimes than with a sprain or strain.i had a severe sprain and thought for sure that it was broken as I could put no wieght on it at all.Now my husband actually broke his ankle and was walking around on it without the very severe pain that I had with only a sprain.strange but true.you really should get that ankle x rayed just to be sure.Try and keep it elevated when sitting do the ice thing as needed.but see your doc for an eval.FB

Thanks guys!

Wow, if its been 3 weeks either I've delayed the healing, or it was just this bad. Let's just say I rolled my ankle when my ankle collapsed with 115lbs on my back, ouch! The pain has dropped, it just refuses to fully heal though!! It's a minor pain...why wont it go away :(

Thanks for the advice on keeping it elevated when sitting and icing. I'll see if I can get it checked.

Yeah, if it still hurts after three weeks you should probably see the doctor. Unfortunately, ankle sprains are best treated right away. By now, if it's just a sprain, there's not as much that they can do. They may be able to give you a brace that will help it heal, or prescribe some physical therapy.

I sprained my ankle very badly when I fell off of a platform with 12 people on top of me (however many pounds that is....). Although I knew immediately it was bad (I don't really remember it actually happening, just sitting on the ground screaming), I was not able to get treatment and instead had to go on a two week hiking trip with pack (long story!). Anyway, by the time I saw a doctor, they tried a brace and PT. I was still in pain and the ankle was really loose, so they tried casting it. I eventually gave up and had it surgically fixed 10 years later.

Anyway, if there's any point at all to that story, I guess it's that you should get in to see a doctor ASAP, because the longer you wait, the worse off you could be. Also, you could try taking anti-inflammatories for a while (like ibuprofen, following the directions on the bottle). That might help, along with resting it and keeping it elevated. I would also lay off the sprinting and lower body lifting for a little while. Try things that won't be as stressful to the ankle, like cycling or swimming?

Ouch! That sounds like a painful time :eek:

Right after I fell and just rested a minute, I actually finished my step ups and then just did front squats and ended the workout, because my ankle didnt hurt too bad. Then as the day went on, OWWW it got a lot worse. I was able to run on it. Infact, I never wasnt able to run on it the past few weeks, it just hurt like hell the first week. The 2nd week it just hurt a little. This last week it barely hurts, so it is getting better, but now healing seems to have slowed a lot this week.

Don't get me wrong, I can run, jump, lift, etc just normally, but I have this slight pain in motions like rolling your ankle(in my case, i hurt my ankle by rolling outwards(the right side of ride foot), but it hurts if i "roll" it inwards or outwards. I won't sprint, and I'll be very very careful with the lower body lifting, which has been light anyways. (No way I'm doing step ups haha)

But as the other poster said, that doesn't mean I don't have a fracture I guess.

Thank you very much for your reply! Is there anything I should follow on how high to elevate or what to use (elevate either supported by bandage or on a platform of some sort)? I read icing with the injury elevated above the heart is what you should do, so I don't know if this has any relation to just elevating in general.

-Steel

In general, if you are trying to reduce swelling, you need to elevate the body part above the level of the heart. So for the ankle this means laying flat on your back with your foot up on pillows so that it is above your chest.

You can also wrap it with an elastic bandage. Always start from the toes and wrap up the ankle from there. And make sure that you aren't cutting off your circulation with the bandage. Don't sleep in it.

And yes, sprains can take a very long time to heal, even if treated initially. It can take 6 months to a year to be fully healed from a sprain.

In general, if you are trying to reduce swelling, you need to elevate the body part above the level of the heart. So for the ankle this means laying flat on your back with your foot up on pillows so that it is above your chest.

You can also wrap it with an elastic bandage. Always start from the toes and wrap up the ankle from there. And make sure that you aren't cutting off your circulation with the bandage. Don't sleep in it.

And yes, sprains can take a very long time to heal, even if treated initially. It can take 6 months to a year to be fully healed from a sprain.

Thank you for the elevating advice!

Ahh!!!!!! There's no way I could wait even a few months for this ankle to get better. =/ Is there a point where even if I'm not fully better I'll be able to return to sprinting?

If you see a doctor, they should be able to tell you when it is safe to return to activities. Otherwise, let pain be your guide. If it hurts, go easy on it. If it doesn't hurt, then go ahead.

If you see a doctor, they should be able to tell you when it is safe to return to activities. Otherwise, let pain be your guide. If it hurts, go easy on it. If it doesn't hurt, then go ahead.


See, that's the problem, I probably can't get to a doctor, and going by pain is kinda hard for me. I can sprint and lift without pain, but then I don't know if I'm really delaying the healing, so I'm tempted to take off, but then I think if I take off, I could do them anyways because those two things don't hurt me, so yeah its confusing ahhh

I guess I'll take off this week, gauge it by next week and decide then i guess.

I've got an idea. In the mean time while I'm injured, do you think it'll be safe to do tempo runs?

Tempo runs are basically fast runs, NOT sprints, done on grass. They're done at around 65% max sprint velocity(100m), so a sample workout is 10x100m @ 65% @ 30 seconds between runs

Think I can still do that?

I really don't know... Sorry.

I really don't know... Sorry.


Ah, it's alright. Thank you for all the posts you've made here though, I really appreciate it! Thanks again. :)

i rolled mine a few months ago. I would put an ice pack on it to reduce swelling and as others have mentioned keep it elevated. Truthfully mine lasted a couple of months, the swelling went away a couple of weeks after, the bruising took the same amount of time but it would still be sore up until recently.

I wouldnt sprint and jump because all that will do is make it last longer... you should be resting it and not stressing it out more then you need to.

i rolled mine a few months ago. I would put an ice pack on it to reduce swelling and as others have mentioned keep it elevated. Truthfully mine lasted a couple of months, the swelling went away a couple of weeks after, the bruising took the same amount of time but it would still be sore up until recently.

I wouldnt sprint and jump because all that will do is make it last longer... you should be resting it and not stressing it out more then you need to.

Yeah my ankles still injured!!! Sometimes it hurts a lot, sometimes its pretty much pain free.

What's a good way to elevate it when sitting?

I figured out how.

Anyways, I don't get it. Why is this injury taking forever to heal? I'm 16, could the fact that I'm growing have anything to do with this? This is the longest ankle injury ever! They usually take a week or two to heal...

Ankle sprains take forever to heal. The initial pain goes away, but then it just takes tons of time for it to actually heal up and feel good again. Sadly, it may never be perfect. The problem with ligaments is that they don't really have a good blood supply, so they have issues with healing. You can try doing stuff to strengthen your lower leg and the muscles around the ankle, which can help make up for the weakness in the ligaments (which you can't actually strengthen). A physical therapist should instruct you in these exercises (you'll need a referral from your doc). But the basic principle is to move the foot in all four directions (in, out, up, and down) with some resistance.

Oh..

After a lot of compressing and elevating, I've been starting back into sprinting and actual lifting, and somehow its actually feeling better than it was while I wasn't doing anything. Now most of the time it feels nearly pain , and yeah. I don't know if this is the best it'll get though... it's like 98% I'd say.

ignore....

Well its been over 3 months now...

I got it x-rayed...no fractures...so it's definitely a sprain

When i feel the injured spot and push in(i have to bring my foot to its toes just a bit) it hurts so much...could this mean that it was pretty badly torn?