grade 3 sprine not sure if its broken advice please?
Hi I had a really nasty fall nearly 8 weeks ago, im 36 years old with five kids but four at home, and after running upstairs with my heavy clonky trainers on, just before i took the dog out, i caught the back of my heal on the top stair and then fell, my foot stayed there and went up behine me, i fell to the bottom hitting my head too on the kids dolls house.
I screamed out in agony, and my hubby had just popped out for some milk so my brave 8 year old called 999 for an ambulance and they came gave me morphine before they moved me and took me straight to a&e.
my foot and ankle swelled to about 5 times the size, i was really doopey from the drugs they gave me, the junnior doctor sent me for an xray and they just xrayed the bottom of my foot??, she came back hours later because it was packed solied with only two doctors on and said it was agrade three sprine.
the pain has been unbearable i couldnt weight bear in the slighest for four weeks, the swelling took 3 weeks to go down, but now nearly 8 weeks on the ankle is still slightly swollen and im walking on it but im in constant pain???.
i have broken my limbs before and this feels more like a break, but would it have shown up??, could there be a mistake. im not a moaner and im getting on with things but even when i have broke my leg and arm before its healed and hurt less.....still 8 weeks on and no better???
any advice???
__________________
My spelling was total pants before my stroke and its even worse now....but hey at least you can have fun trying to wrok out what it was meant to have said in the first place!!!...lol
Re: grade 3 sprine not sure if its broken advice please?
Hi jane and thanks so much for your reply, the A&E just put a tublagrip on it, and told me to rest it, and thats only because i asked the nurse on the way out. I did get some crutches only when i said i cant walk, the pain when still was alful let alone flat.
I had the doctor out on week two, well i say out he wouldnt come out when the pain worsened so much i was in tears and N.H.S direct rang my doctor to come and see me at home saying they believed i had a sort tissue infection on top. I got a phone call and told him weeping about the hot and cold feeling that kept coming over me and the colour had gone purple and the pain. He said "oh yes, if you have had an xray its a soft tissue infection" i was give anti bi's 4 times dayly for 7 seven days 500mg. they did help 3 days in or so. but the skin on top of my foot still feels like ive been to the dentist, and the ankle is still so painful.
I will go back to the a& e again tomorrow and tell them its still as painful, but thats if i get past the nurse at the desk first......
__________________
My spelling was total pants before my stroke and its even worse now....but hey at least you can have fun trying to wrok out what it was meant to have said in the first place!!!...lol
Re: grade 3 sprine not sure if its broken advice please?
A sprain can bring years of pain. Keep going back to the dr. if it doesn't get better and see if you can eventually get an MRI. A sprain won't show anything on an x-ray.
My first surgeon wouldn't do the MRI until at least 3 mos after the sprain, maybe to let the swelling go down, I don't know, but it was at least 3 mos before he'd do one. The MRI would show any ligament/tendon damage and that can surely cause great pain.
Re: grade 3 sprine not sure if its broken advice please?
They realized it was a grade 3 sprain, and that's all they did? That's proper treatment for a grade 1 sprain!
See if you can get in to see an orthopedist. This is very serious, if it is dealt with properly, it can heal well, if it doesn't heal well you might require surgery or suffer permanent problems.
Once it does start to heal, you will definitely need physical therapy. Otherwise, the joint will remain weak and at serious risk of re-injury.
Re: grade 3 sprine not sure if its broken advice please?
hi kris and jane, its 4am and im up in pain again so im staying of taking or getting my hubby to take the youngest 2 too school and then back the hospital.
The doctor told me and my husband it was a grage three, you could only see a dimple of the inside ankle bone 3 weeks later thats how bad the swelling was. the brusing is still happening now, which makes me wonder my whole leg from my knee downwards was black with brusing. but the main horrible brusing has gone down but then its starts to reapear when i have had it flat on the floor not raised for a couple of hours.
this sounds a bit strange, i didnt want to sound like a big baby but in the inside ankle bone nobbly bit it has always felt and still does if there is a small tiny what i can only describe as like a twigg splinter stuck between the bone and skin. and it feels like its rubbing and gets really sore, as if there is a cut from under the skin. sounds strange but thats where the main pain is around that area and numbness to the skin on the top of my foot. im not sure if my muscle could cause that sharp scraping pain?? heaven knows??
Do you think i should insist that they give me another xray and ask to see a more senior doctor, because i know the hospital well having had five kids there, they dont have the best and kindest staff in the world and tend to treat you if you are a huge pain in the bum.
__________________
My spelling was total pants before my stroke and its even worse now....but hey at least you can have fun trying to wrok out what it was meant to have said in the first place!!!...lol
Last edited by greeneyedmum; 04-02-2009 at 10:59 PM.
Re: grade 3 sprine not sure if its broken advice please?
Going back to the hospital might or might not help. Hopefully, since you've had the problem so long, and since you now know how serious it it, they'll give you a bit more help.
Definitely, make an appointment with an orthopedist, a good one.
One thing to understand about feet: There are something like 12 bones in the area loosely described as the ankle. It is very possible that one could be broken and the x-ray miss it because another one is in the way. Also, there are ways to damage a bone short of breaking it, including bone bruise, stress fracture, and hairline fracture. They are very difficult to see on x-ray, but they can be very painful nonetheless.
Also, grade 3 sprain means completely or almost completely torn ligaments. Torn ligaments have a hard time healing.
grade 3 sprine not sure if its broken advice please? 
