Originally posted by: miniMUNCH
Originally posted by: EpsiIon
Originally posted by: miniMUNCH
Did you get a hematoma (soft lump caused by subdural bleeding, a sign of torn ligaments)? Even if ligaments did tear...ankle ligaments heal really strong if properly rehab'ed. The pop was probably ligament(s) tearing (they actually do "pop" when they rupture).
Can you walk on it if you really had to... i.e. put full pressure on it without tremendous (I want to scream like a little girl) pain? Your ankle might not be broken but there could be cartilage damage...if there is damage then this could lead to piched nerves (i.e. scream like a little girl pain) in the ankle
Last but not least...what is your health insurance situation like? Because if it will only cost a $20 copay to get looked at, x-ray'ed, etc... it might be worth it if you do have really bad pain when you put weight on it.
Ok, so I'm just a big pansy. I can put my full weight on it without tremendous pain, but it's certainly not comfortable and it hurts in strange places like my shin and the inside of my achilles tendon...
I don't know about the hematoma. Honestly, I don't really know how to differentiate between "normal" swelling and a hematoma. This might be important: The sprain itself was as if I simultaneously hyper-extended and rolled my ankle. Afterwards, there was significant swelling about 3/4 of the way down my shin (clearly evident and it kinda looked like my shin was broken at first). This subsided slowly along with the other swelling.
Health insurance is pretty good. I'm at a UC and am currently covered under my parents' insurance policy. It shouldn't cost more than $40 to $100 to get it checked out. However, while I am admittedly ignorant about the subject, what could a doctor tell me other than to stay off it? That I might need surgery?
What kind of surgery could I need? <-- Not a hypothetical question!
But you can walk on it in a semi-normal fashion if you had to without super amounts of pain...that's important, because it means your ankle is not dislocated and there is probably no cartilage damage. One of my friends sprained his ankle so bad he also dislocated it which entailed some cartilage damage and a stress fracture. In the case of a dislocation, you cannot put any wieght on the ankle without nerves endings going totally crazy (making you want to scream in pain).
So is your ankle joint swollen along with the area above the ankle or is just the area above the ankle swollen? It is not uncommon for the shin above a sprained ankle to feel bruised. The bone can be stressed such that bruises but does not fracture.
Did your ankle buckle/roll inwards (towards the instep) or outwards? What were you doing at the time?
Are there areas that are particularly painful to press on with your thumb?
If there is no major fracture or cartilage damage you don't need surgery...even in the case of a small stress fracture you would not require a cast, AFAIK.
Sounds like you are okay...but it is always good to be sure. A mistreated injury can haunt you for life.
Edit: as far as the hematoma goes...when ligaments are torn bad in the ankle (especially the outside) the area will bleed and swell up such it looks like someone inserted a marble, or even a golf ball, under the skin....it is basically a big pocket of blood that forms from internal bleeding.
If there was/is no massive, mis-shappen swelling then the liqaments may not even be damaged that badly (just strains and/or partial tears).
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