Broken ankle?

[hazza6542]

Small crash this afternoon, didn't seem too bad but now at 4am I can't tell my ankle from my leg. Dark bruising and a tonne of swelling, but all of the 'symptoms' I've found on the net seem a bit general for any injury (can't bear weight, swelling, bruising etc). I can't really move my foot more than a 1/2" in any direction but I've never broken a bone to really compare pain levels. Anyone know some sure thing symptoms of a break or fracture? Cheers.

Not sure if right section to post, please move if wrong.

 

[ajay]

I've had a couple of broken ankles, both pretty severe, and I've sprained both a few times too. The only difference I found was that the broken ankle had really sharp, acute pain when I put weight on it. But that's just my experience.

Obviously, you need to get it checked out by a doc, but it sounds that at the very least you've given yourself a pretty nasty sprain.


Edit - by the way, a break and a fracture are exactly the same

 

[pharmaboy]

No weight bearing at all possible is often a fracture of some kind - get an X-ray today. I'd even head into an emergency dept if I couldn't put any weight on it. You definately need to see a dr ASAP

Good luck

 

[JTmofo]

Straight off to the A&E with ya ......

If its bad enough to keep you awake at night then its serious enough to seek medical advice.
Dont bother with the GP, they'll send you for an x-ray/scan anyway.
Even if its not a fracture, it may be ligament or tendon damage..and speaking from experience (Not ankle but other joints) soft tissue damage can be worse than a fracture.

PS - Pictures of the cankle would make my day.... i love gorey shit!

 

[scblack]

I have torn ligaments three times on each ankle playing union. If you were able to last this long, probably not a break. But sounds like a severe wrenching of ligaments, probably torn. Get x-rays to ensure not broken, but see a physio ASAP.

 

[sawnoff666]

I broke my ankle once playing rugby union but didn't get it fixed. Last game of the year. Full time whistle went and I was on the ground. Went to get up. Someone fell on my ankle. Ouch. What should I do. Go to hospital. No. Go out and get drunk of course. Couldn't walk and was sore for a long time but she'll be right. Never quite right again. About twelve years later broke the same ankle. Got x-rays and found out about previous broken ankle. Now have about 30% movement in that ankle. Don't be a moron like me and go and get it fixed ASAP. [SUP][/SUP]

 

[ForkinGreat]

Get it X-rayed FFS.

 

[hazza6542]

Go to hospital. No. Go out and get drunk of course.

I took the latter option... Honestly slept most of today and stayed sitting with leg up, swelling has gone down a little but still can't see the ankle and some of it's still pretty dark, but convinced it's not a break as I can 'walk' a bit better, just have to put pressure on a certain bit of my foot and keep it there. Still fuck all movement, probably head down and get x-rays tonight, not bothering with GP's they fucked me around for over a year with my shoulder to eventually get told 'oh yeah that's completely fucked'.

Cheers guys

EDIT: Should have mentioned I was up at 4 having some drinks for a mates birthday, not being kept up by pain... Didn't hurt to sleep with once I got it raised up on a pillow.

 

[The Reverend]

I've broken two ankles and had them both seen to by specialists.
The ankle and wrist joints are particularly complicated, and with the weight ankles take you don't want to risk it healing without proper management.
Don't waste time on the internet, get it seen to by medical specialists or you'll risk limping for time to come.

 

[mymasseur]

I've broken two ankles and had them both seen to by specialists.
The ankle and wrist joints are particularly complicated, and with the weight ankles take you don't want to risk it healing without proper management.
Don't waste time on the internet, get it seen to by medical specialists or you'll risk limping for time to come.

ok, with the amount of bruising you have and swelling you have definitely torn some ligaments or soft tissue of some kind, could even be a syndismosis tear, ligament between two lower leg bones, either way sounds like a grade 2 or even 3 tear with that uch colour and swelling and pain. thats the start, it is possible to have fractures that are not complete and still walk etc. could even be worse again. problem is you dont know? how do you? get an xray quick as. but first thing is first 48 hours bucket of ice water to reduce swelling plus yes elevation, no alcohole or anti inflamatories as they cause more bleeding and make swelling worse. yes these soft tissue injuries can end up being way worse than fractures, i had bad damage to my knee, surgeon said i would have been better off with a break. importantly ed will tell you how bad straight up, but you need to to see a musculoskeletal speacialist, either sports physio, sports physician or orthopedic surgeon asap, as this is their bread and butter.
You need to be moon booted asap, and non weight bearing to reduce any possibility of long term damage. these above dudes will get you into a moon boot asap, hire or buy crutches from a chemist now, dont put weight on it till then. Dont trust A& E or ED as tey get it wrong sometimes.
so Ice, non weight bare, crutches, moon boot, specialist physio,dr or ortho asap, they will order xrays or mri, which ever you can get into first. Dont fuck around and be a hero or you may pay for it in many ways.

 

[Atomic Hooligan]

If you were able to walk and weight bear at the time of inury, a fracture is certainly less likely, although still possible, so if your struggling to walk over the next couple of days I would see a GP or Physio. Saying that, as mentioned earlier, high grade ligament injuries can take longer to recover than uncomplicated fractures that don't require internal fixation. Also although a few cold frothies work well as a pain killer, alcohol thins the blood, prevents clotting and can increase bleeding and swelling, so you have may have set your recovery back by a week or two. Ultimately I'd recommend seeing a physio to have it assessed , diagnosed and receive advice regarding appropriate management.

 

[hazza6542]

Booked in first thing in the morning at a clinic that has xrays in house, it's good you walk in get seen cross the hall get your xrays and then dr sees them immediately, no fucking around. When I did it it just felt like any crash, stiff and sore, but not that bad that I couldn't walk. It got worse through out the night after sitting down and not moving it for hours. Feels better, swelling is a little less ball shaped but still big. Had ice on it on and off today, helped the swelling.

so you have may have set your recovery back by a week or two.

Didn't drink too much, was bloody good single malt scotch, not sure if worth an extra week healing if it turns out bad, but hwell:

 

[hazza6542]

Xrays, all's well, just take it easy for a week or so apparently. He had a laugh telling me not to do anything silly like trying to jump the bicycle, didn't mention it was a downhill bike...

 

[pharmaboy]

Good result. It was still worth checking though - at least you now know what you are dealing with

 

[hazza6542]

Yeah, it's just a bad habit of mine to leave things for a day or two before I get em checked. All I know is it's not broken, didn't mention anything about ligaments etc. like mentioned earlier but tonight I can almost walk pretty comfortably, just stairs getting to me, might be pushing it but hopefully be on the bike this weekend just taking it easy on the flow/jump track.

 

[DeBloot]

I'm exactly the same

if I'm well enough to drive or ride home, the it seems wise to have a drink
If I'm well enough to drink then I'm probably OK
Then I drink too much and can't drive to the hospital anyway
I then sit around for a couple of days prodding and rubbing and wavering between fracture and bad sprain
Finally go to the hospital and get an Xray after I've come to terms with how bad it may be

 

[tubby74]

When I broke my ankle I went to emergency with my sister who used to be a doctor there. They said they could xray now but a 4 hour wait to see a doctor. Sister said hello to nurse and that she would check the xray.
Sister missed the fracture, a week later hospital called for a followup and said I really needed a second xray as it was still twice its normal size. They said by now if it was still swollen it probably wasn't a soft tissue injury. 8 weeks in a cast and I still remind my sister about it.
As it happened on boxing day and I got the all clear from my doctor/sister I thoroughly medicated as proscribed by many in this thread.