Sprained ankle and after a few months there is no improvement - should I see my doctor again?

[Keigen79]

Greeting,

In a nutshell, I was pushing my bike towards my shed when I slipped and fell on my right side. As I was getting back to my feet I could feel pain straightaway. I couldn’t even walk properly so I went to A&E and I had one x-ray and was told that my foot was not fractured and to take painkillers and rest it as much as possible.

After about a week or so I decided that enough was enough and phoned my local GP and booked an appointment to see my doctor. I explained what had happened and my doctor told me he could see that my foot was swollen and then told me to go back to the hospital for another x-ray on my foot. After the x-ray I was told by a nurse at the hospital that my foot was fractured, but then I received a phone call later on in the evening and I was told that it was not fractured but badly sprained and that it should heal in about three months.

Nearly four months on and although the pain is not as severe, I can still feel myself limping when I’m walking and I can neither cycle nor walk properly because of it. I work long hours and it’s really uncomfortable.

My wife has told me to go back to the doctors. However, I don’t want to come across as a hypochondriac and keep going back and forth to see my doctor. Should I book an appointment to see my doctor? Will my doctor be able to help me at all?

I understand that something like a sprained ankle takes time to heal, but I know that my body is not quite right and it’s starting to bug me.

Any help will be greatly appreciated, thank you.

[rualexander]

See a physiotherapist instead of doctor.

[Audax67]

A physio here would want to see X-rays before doing anything. Did the hospital give them to you or send them on to your GP? If so I'd go back to the doc first and make sure he sees them.

BTW, to hell with not wanting to appear a hypochondriac. It's your foot and because of the injury you can't use it properly. I'd go back and hammer the bloody desk until I got some results. Untended injuries can develop into something nasty and permanent.

[mjr]

Yes, I would have been back long before now. It ain't hypochrondia if you can't use your foot normally.

[PDQ Mobile]

I hurt mine skiing years ago. A Ski failed to disengage and gave the ankle a monster twist.

After various "practitioners" and little improvement after nearly a year, a sports physio gave me a "Wobbleboard" to use.
((It was also soon afterwards recommended by a chance meeting with another sports Physio.))

Anyway it really did the trick and a month after starting with using it the ankle was back up to strength and flexibility.
No subsequent problems.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Get a scan done. X rays often miss stress fractures, and won’t pick up soft tissue problems.

[Syd]

^^^ this

MRI or CT.

XRay missed two of the three fractures in my pelvis 12 weeks ago. They did a CT the same evening and confirmed the others.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
You are talking to an expert here.
Sprained my ankle probably over 30 times in my life.
Later diagnosed as unstable ankles (over flexible)
It's physio physio and more physio.
Like said if you can't use your ankle go back to your GP.
in the past I could sprained my ankle walking off the pavement or even a protruding paving slab by quarter of an inch.
I do physio on my ankles every day.
There are specific physio exercises on the Internet for sprained ankles.
so GP, examination exploration, physio, you can self refer to an NHS physio.
hairline fractures can't always been seen on the x-ray, it's common to x-ray then two weeks later they then show up as a scar.
Get well soon.

[PDQ Mobile]

Get a scan done. X rays often miss stress fractures, and won’t pick up soft tissue problems.

You say it as if one merely has to politely ask!
And hey presto!

My experience is to get a scan, on for example a vertebral disc, is something like getting blood out of a stone!! (On NHS)

[Marcus Aurelius]

Get a scan done. X rays often miss stress fractures, and won’t pick up soft tissue problems.

You say it as if one merely has to politely ask!
And hey presto!

My experience is to get a scan, on for example a vertebral disc, is something like getting blood out of a stone!! (On NHS)

True, Ive only ever had them done privately. And that was covered by my medical insurance.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
What was the outcome of your scan?
The NHS say that a scan is a last resort and rarely ends with surgery?
That's talking about spines.

[cotswolds]

I agree with most of what's been said, but would add the following.

It sounds like a soft tissue injury that's healing slowly. (A fracture should heal in 6 weeks and it sounds more like the sort of incident that would cause soft tissue damage.)

Standard mantra for soft tissue injuries is RICE - rest, ice, compression, elevation. Ice and elevation are only relevant for the first 48 hours. If nobody's told you about elevation, it may explain why your injury's healing so slowly. With soft tissue damage, fluid leaks from the injury into surrounding tissue causing swelling (almost certainly still there even if it's no longer so obvious). The swelling reduces the circulation, which slows the healing process.

The aim of elevation is to raise the injury so that fluid drains away by gravity. For an ankle, this means getting it higher than the knee. If you have to stand all day at work, this is is obviously impossible and you'll have to accept slow healing. If you can sit, try and get your foot raised on a chair, maybe with a book as well to make sure it's higher than your knee. Do something similar at home, and put a pillow under your foot in bed to get it above the rest of your body. The more the foot is raised, the better, even if you can only do it some of the time, there'll be benefit from reduced swelling, which will speed the natural healing process.

Mobilise your ankle as much as possible - i.e. wiggle your foot around. This will tend to pump fluid out of swollen tissue and also promote circulation. (A wobble board will do this very well, but isn't essential.)

If you have cold feet (which implies poor circulation), do everything you can to keep them warm.

Ibuprofen may help, not for it's pain killing effect but because it reduces swelling.

In your position I'd book a doctor's appointment in say 3 - 4 weeks time, then be meticulous about elevation and mobilisation until then. A day or two before the appointment they'll be perfectly happy for you to cancel if you feel there's enough improvement that you're no longer concerned .

A physio would understand the injury very well, but I doubt they'd add much to what you already know. If it's not a sprained ankle, further imaging is needed and only your doctor can arrange that.

[rualexander]

A physio would understand the injury very well, but I doubt they'd add much to what you already know. If it's not a sprained ankle, further imaging is needed and only your doctor can arrange that.

Physios can order scans, and they can also use things like ultrasound, etc. to treat injuries.