Is my ankle broken?

[Gunslinger08]

Well, last night I tripped down some stairs and rolled my ankle.. hurt an unbelievable amount, and I briefly went into mild shock (cold but sweaty, light headed, dizzy). I thought maybe it was just a bad sprain, but I got home and looked at it... jesus that thing was huge!

Ouch

So I wake up this morning, and the swelling has gone down, but it hurts to put any direct pressure on the foot. I have never broken my ankle, so I don't know how to tell if it is broken. It's gonna be very hard for me to get to the hospital on campus, so I don't want to try to get over there if I don't need to.

Josh

 

[Kipper]

FYI. If your ankle was broken you wouldn't be able to walk, period. I had a very BAD sprain last year playing football and I could barely walk because of the pain, but it wasn't a break, just massive swelling. Get it checked out, though, if the swelling doesn't subside.

 

[Azraele]

If you are asking the question, you need to be checked by a doctor.

 

[MrPhelps]

I am not a real doctor, I just play one at Anandtech.

I did the same and it takes a couple of weeks to heal. I prescribe that you surf anandtech all day and post me in the morning.

 

[Miramonti]

ice, ice, ice baby! and wrap it, wrap it good. You've got to get the swelling out. I use the wrap when sleeping too and it helps alot then. Sometimes it takes a couple days before I can use the wrap, since its so painful.

Chances are that its not broken. It looks like a high ankle sprain. I know what you mean in terms of pain tho, ankle sprains (and ligament injuries) are brutally painful. I've done the sweat/chill thing many times after getting one playing basketball, and one time I passed out it was so painful.

However you're ankle doesn't look very bad, as far as sprains go. They can get unbelievably nasty, and yours is about a 3 on a scale to 5.

They take a long time to fully heal and strengthen too. Your looking at atleast a few months before it feels normal (altho you'll be able to walk semi-normal in a maybe week)

 

[aphex]

Could be a fracture....

I had a pretty big one 2 years ago and walked around all day on the fvcker in seering pain...

 

[Harvey]

I believe that's what X-rays are for. You'll get better answers from a doctor.

Good luck.

 

[NogginBoink]

Let me get out my tele-present-x-ray-glasses here.

Rats. The batteries are dead. You'll have to get a regular X-ray to know for sure now.

 

[yakko]

The one I did about 4 years ago was worse than that. Had the bruise along the bottom of my foot for about 2 weeks from where the blood had pooled. Took forever to heal.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Hit it a couple of times with a lead pipe to make sure.





Oh, you didn't want it broken? Then see a doctor.

 

[tcsenter]

FYI. If your ankle was broken you wouldn't be able to walk, period.

Not necessarily, there are plenty of instances of people hobbling around on fractured bones.

I had a very BAD sprain last year playing football and I could barely walk because of the pain, but it wasn't a break, just massive swelling. Get it checked out, though, if the swelling doesn't subside.

Bad sprains can be as painful if not more so than broken bones.

 

[Yo Ma Ma]

Is my ankle broken?

Hmm, let's see: ((shake)) ((shake)) --> "My sources say yes!"
You should always get a 2nd opinion though, perhaps someone else has a Magic 8 Ball & could help you out.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: tcsenter

FYI. If your ankle was broken you wouldn't be able to walk, period.

Not necessarily, there are plenty of instances of people hobbling around on fractured bones

i.e. ME

 

[zer0burn]

usually sprains hurt more then breaks and sometimes take longer to heal