Damaged ankle ligaments

slumdog

slumdog

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Has anyone damaged them? How long did it take to heal?

I had a fall yesterday and I'm in total agony, I've never felt pain like it. I can't put any weight on it (believe me- if I could I would have strapped it up and jumped the next class!) and I have no movement other than my toes (how its not broken god only knows)

Hospital have given me crutches and told me to rest, apparently its the same as a break and it'll be about 6 weeks before I'm back to normal. To say I'm gutted is an understatement.
Please tell me good stories about how you were all back competing a week after :(
 
Tendons and ligaments you're looking at up to 6-9 months to get full healing. It should be pretty much there in 6-8 weeks but you are going to need to be careful for a few months at least. Not what you want to hear I know but ligaments and such dont heal well kr quickly because they dont have a goid blood supply.
Would highly recommend getting referred for physio once its a bit better as that will massively improve the outcome
 
I would get your GP to refer you to physio immediately, there is a 10 week waiting list in our area - I decided it was worth paying for private treatment.
 
:( that's what I was fearing.

I'm still on my 3 month probation for my new job, I work in a hotel bar and I'm guessing a 9 hour shift on Friday is unlikely :( I'm scared I'm going to loose my job. What a nightmare.
 
You need to ditch the crutches asap and start walking on it. I did a grade 3 tear on my ankle and the hospital in Chamonix, who are more than used to these injuries, wouldn't even give me crutches!! I had it confirmed by a UK doctor out there that you need to start using the ankle as soon as you can or the nerves which control the ankle will stop functioning and delay healing. It took about 3 months for mine to stop hurting. GPs are useless, go straight to a sports physio.
 
That's what my mum said, she did her knee years ago. How the hell did you walk on it? Its the most painful thing Ive ever had (Ive had 2 c-sections!) but I'll do anything to make it heal quicker!
 
mynutmeg said:
Tendons and ligaments you're looking at up to 6-9 months to get full healing. It should be pretty much there in 6-8 weeks but you are going to need to be careful for a few months at least. Not what you want to hear I know but ligaments and such dont heal well kr quickly because they dont have a goid blood supply.
Would highly recommend getting referred for physio once its a bit better as that will massively improve the outcome
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Do this and not what I did.

I did 3 lots of damage to same ankle, all horse related accidents and each time I just vet wrapped it and hobbled about. 10 years on I am lame for good and very misshapen. If I am on my feet all day and walk miles,the next morning I have to go down the stairs one at a time. It does free up as long as I keep it warm and flexed, but I do regret ignoring the injuries when they happened.
 
Hi I'm new to the forum but I can relate. A little while ago I had a accident, had finished the horses was in the feed room went to put my right leg up on the side to sort my jeans out and my left leg gave way and I fell to the floor! Long story short my knee had dislocated (done this before so just put it back myself) within minutes my ankle had swollen up I couldn't move it so a ambulance was phoned and they suspected it was broken.

Like you say it's like pain you've never known, even my knee dislocating hurt less! I couldn't stand on it or even place it on the floor and I couldn't move my toe's or even my ankle. Was x-rayed and no breaks just bad ligement damage which could take anything up to 3 months to heal I was told. Ligement damage takes a lot longer then a break to heal so I don't know who told you it would be the same amount of time as a break!

It's been two months now and I was giving the go ahead last Thursday to start walking on it again. Was also sent for MRI scan which I'm still awaiting results. So far I can walk aided by crutches but not without and after an hour on my foot I'm in pretty much the same amount of pain I was in the day I did it and the outside of my ankle swells up. When given the go ahead to start walking again I aimed to be back riding, working and looking after my horses within a week, two max and back dancing again in three! This certainly isn't going to happen sadly.

Sorry to tell you a bad story, I hope you're ankle isn't as bad and I hope you're back on you're feet a lot quicker then me because I know how horrible it is to be out of action.
 
So far as walking goes, be guided by your pain. If excruciating then dont weight bear for a few days. You can start using it whilst not putting much weight through using the crutches to help and build it up. I wouldnt recommend completely ditching the crutches right away but use them as an aid to getting function back.
Your work shouldn't be able to fire you because of injury just talk to them about it.

If you're still in this.much pain in s week then you need referred to he orthopaedics to have the ligaments properly evaluated. You should be able to weight bear within a few days especially if rest and ice it now. It will take several months for it to fullt heal tho
 
I was referred to the Orthopaedics clinic a few weeks ago and was sent from there for a MRI scan. Awaiting results from that now. Otherwise I would have been back on my feet ages ago properly.
 
mynutmeg said:
Tendons and ligaments you're looking at up to 6-9 months to get full healing. It should be pretty much there in 6-8 weeks but you are going to need to be careful for a few months at least. Not what you want to hear I know but ligaments and such dont heal well kr quickly because they dont have a goid blood supply.
Would highly recommend getting referred for physio once its a bit better as that will massively improve the outcome
Click to expand...

^^^ This. I tore ankle ligaments about 10 years ago, when my foot got caught in a stirrup as I came off a tanking 17.2 warmblood.

Pain like I have never known! The A & E doc said it would have been better if I'd broken it, as that is usually quicker to heal. :rolleyes: And oh, the colours it went... black as the night sky for several weeks.

I used crutches as a steadying aid for a week or so but worked with a physio from the start. It is vital to get the correct stretching exercises and do them religiously (as in, you yell 'Oh god!' at the pain when doing them... Only kidding! :D. But you do need to push yourself past a bit of pain, and your physio can guide you in this. Otherwise the ligaments will heal short, and your movement will be limited forever more.)

Mine took about 3 or 4 months to feel normal-ish. I was riding after about 6 weeks - I just had to be extremely careful when dismounting as jarring it from underneath was excruciating. To be honest, I could have probably ridden before that but I was scared of hurting it again and the fall had shattered my confidence.

But, honestly, it took a year or so to be fully healed. Sorry to confirm the bad news that others have said. You have my deepest sympathy.
 
Red30563 said:
^^^ This. I tore ankle ligaments about 10 years ago, when my foot got caught in a stirrup as I came off a tanking 17.2 warmblood.

Pain like I have never known! The A & E doc said it would have been better if I'd broken it, as that is usually quicker to heal. :rolleyes: And oh, the colours it went... black as the night sky for several weeks.

I used crutches as a steadying aid for a week or so but worked with a physio from the start. It is vital to get the correct stretching exercises and do them religiously (as in, you yell 'Oh god!' at the pain when doing them... Only kidding! :D. But you do need to push yourself past a bit of pain, and your physio can guide you in this. Otherwise the ligaments will heal short, and your movement will be limited forever more.)

Mine took about 3 or 4 months to feel normal-ish. I was riding after about 6 weeks - I just had to be extremely careful when dismounting as jarring it from underneath was excruciating. To be honest, I could have probably ridden before that but I was scared of hurting it again and the fall had shattered my confidence.

But, honestly, it took a year or so to be fully healed. Sorry to confirm the bad news that others have said. You have my deepest sympathy.
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I'd agree with the A&E doctor provided the fracture didn't involve the joint - I severely broke and dislocated both ankles a few years ago, because of the severity and fractures I was in casts for a fair few months which meant that all the ligaments etc are tight and severely reduced my movement. Because I wasn't able to do the necessary physio to keep things moving.

You do need to be careful and let your ankle heal and be careful with it for a good few months. I would recommend strapping it up as well to provide it some support while it's healing.
 
Ice it and find the money for a physio, theraputic ultrasound or laser therapy may help.
I ruptured my achilles tendon the pain was appalling .
 
Thanks everyone, you've all been really helpful even if its not what I want to hear. The bruising is coming out now, and my whole foot from the ankle down seems to be going black. Can't see me working on Friday, going to go doctors tomorrow and get a note (didn't think at hospital) so hopefully work will be sympathetic. I can't face a 10 hour shift on my feet.

I'm getting married in 12 weeks as well so I'm skint (insure the horses, maybe should insure myself instead lol) so going to plead to daddy for physio money I think ;) it can be my wedding present lol!

I'm currently taking paracetamol and ibuprofen but any other suggestions welcome, I did ask a&e for morphine but they said no :p
 
I 'did a leg' ( ;) ) 9 years ago, I was 12 and in France so can't remember /exactly/ how badly I tore a ligament in my ankle. It stopped hurting badly very quickly so i started walking on it too quickly I think. It gave me trouble for the next 5 years. I used to do a lot of long distance running as a kid but had to stop as every single time I started training it would hurt again.

So i would make sure you rest it as lo as they say. It's okay now, although I twisted it on Monday and had to sit down panting hard for half an hour as it hurt so much!

I didn't have physio though so that might be why it healed so slowly.
 
I dislocated and damaged a ligament in my shoulder back in January (being dragged by a horse :rolleyes:) it's a bit better now but still not right, at the time I had to go to a&e as the pain was so bad I honestly thought I'd broken it!! Had to keep it in a sling for a few weeks then move it as normal so it didnt heal wrong but it's still really weak and painful now so I think I did too much too fast. It's hard to explain but it feels unstable, like the joint could easily dislocate again and it still hurts quite a bit. :o

5 months on and honestly I think a break would have been easier!!!
 
slumdog said:
Thanks everyone, you've all been really helpful even if its not what I want to hear. The bruising is coming out now, and my whole foot from the ankle down seems to be going black. Can't see me working on Friday, going to go doctors tomorrow and get a note (didn't think at hospital) so hopefully work will be sympathetic. I can't face a 10 hour shift on my feet.

I'm getting married in 12 weeks as well so I'm skint (insure the horses, maybe should insure myself instead lol) so going to plead to daddy for physio money I think ;) it can be my wedding present lol!

I'm currently taking paracetamol and ibuprofen but any other suggestions welcome, I did ask a&e for morphine but they said no :p
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paracetamol and ibuprofen are your best - you can take 400mg of iburprofen 3 times a day so make sure you take max dose and regularly with food.
The hospital wouldn't be able to give you a sick note anyway plus when you see the gp you can ask for a physio referal - there's no way you should be doing a shift that long on your feet, maybe ask work if they could find something for you to do that involves sitting down rather than running round, that way you can still be useful to them and shows good willing
 
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