Diagnose my ankle injury

I believe you have a swollen vagina............take a Motrin, settle in for a Lifetime movie, and pour yourself a nice, cool glass of STFU!

(Sorry, I've always wanted to say that too!)

You sprained your achilles........no amputation needed.

 

Take it from someone who has BROKEN his fifth metatarsal (left foot), if it was sprained, it would be swollen up.

 

I second that. And PRAY you didn't really break it. Because if you did, you're in for a bitch of a time.

Mine was four months' recovery time, including two and a half in a fiberglass cast and on crutches.

 

Sprains usually swell, severely, so if there's no swelling or bruising it's probably not a sprain.

A ruptured achilles wouldn't feel better after 20 steps, it would just hurt like hell all the time.

I'd get an xray if it's not slightly better tomorrow, or if it gets worse.

 

A friend had a slight tear of the achilles. You could actually feel it. Felt like a bump. The pain didn't go away for quite a while.

Whatever you do, remember you are responsible for your care. Go see someone. Ask questions during the visit. If you have doubts about the care, or if you still have lingering symptoms that make you question the diagnosis, get a second opinion. My daughter broke her right elbow in three places a couple of weeks ago and it looked like someone took an airhose to her arm. Long story but it took six days and multiple visits to medical professionals to get the correct diagnosis. Intial diagnosis was sprain and strain.

 

Have you tried spitting on it and rubbing?

 

Put some Windex on it!

This sounds more like a muscle strain in your foot than a sprain to me. 21's right -- if it were a sprain there'd be swelling. If you torqued the mt, you'd probably have some swelling too.

 

But what muscle strain would cause pain around the outside of my heel? That's where most of the pain is centered.

 

Just wanted to put my two cents in.

About 5th metatarsal injuries. They can be no big deal relatively speaking, depending on where the break is. Those that are broken just at the base of the bone where the tendon attaches can be treated like a sprain, with an ace wrap and post op Reese hoe. Those that are broken more towards the shaft of the bone (Jones fracture), tend not to heal and usually require surgical fixation with a screw.

Elbow fractures can be tough in kids where the bones have not yet calcified. You can fracture through growth plates and still have the bones look and align normally. Still, a big swollen elbow is a tip off that something is broken. I'm sorry that your kid's fracture was missed. Bad form. Hopefully all turned out OK and she has a normal elbow.

As for Inky...it sounds very much like a muscular strain instead of a sprain. Sprains are disruptions of the ligaments that hold a joint together. When injured they usually swell. however, if the ligament fibers are just stretched and not torn, swelling may be minimal. A strain is an injury to a muscle tendon unit. These tend to stiffen and the pain resolves upon use. However, without proper care and rest, a minor injury can turn into significant problems. As an example:somebody with a chronic right ankle injury usually will develop left knee,right hip and low back pain as the body attempts to compensate gait for the injured part.

Hope everybody survived the summer warrior season. Autumn brings pickup hockey, backyard football and it's soon time to ski. I hope everybody is ready for that.

 

As always, thanks for the insight and input, DocTalk. Always appreciated 'round these parts.

 

I can not emphasize this enough. Get any minor injury that seems to linger taken care of right away. But ESPECIALLY foot/ankle ones.

 

Rub some dirt on it and get back out there. [/oldhighschoolfootballcoach]