ouchie ankle!

[aralli]

The Housemate has a swollen, painful ankle that is hot to the touch and won't bear weight. We are going with RICE for now, and if there is no improvement when I get home from work I'll take her to the doctor's. Until then - any suggestions? Any advice on use of a bandage? She has one wrapped around the ankle right now to prevent her from accidentally turning it and hurting, but neither of us have expertise in how to treat a sprained ankle.

Comments

[helbling.livejournal.com]

Been a while since I had onie, so someone out there might have more recent info than I which will overwrite this, but primarily, elevate and if there's any swelling, apply something cold to try and keep it down. Whether you should be using a bandage to also keep the swelling down/constrict the joint is something that science seems to wibble over, and I can't remember what the most recent piece of advice has been, unfortunately :(

[xanthipe]

Current advice from the NHS: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Sprains/Pages/Treatment.aspx

In short: support it (lace up boots or similar if they can go on and off without tugging), don't walk on it if you can avoid it (but gentle flexing is good so long as it is really gentle - move it as much as it will let you without pain), elevate it as much as possible, ice it (bags of frozen peas are amazing for this), gentle compression (elastic tube bandage) during the day only, for up to three days.

No heat, massage, cardiovascular exercise or alcohol, again for up to three days.

Paracetemol and/or codeine are the recommended pain blockers, avoid ibuprofene and similar for at least 48 hours.

I did my wrist last winter, so...

[ruthste.livejournal.com]

This comment may be too late and you've already headed to the doctors but 'won't bear weight' is a red flag for being more than a strain. Maybe you meant 'hurts to' rather than 'won't' but if it genuinely won't bear weight there's a good chance of it being a break or tendon/ligament damage which needs checking out ASAP.

[aralli.livejournal.com]

Thanks :) Amy posted below - it's hurt's-to-bear-weight. We haven't gone to the docs tonight as the swelling has started to reduce and Amy's main complaint is boredom and an inability to clean the house

[appyamy.livejournal.com]

Just to add that I am able to limp around and the swelling has gone down a lot since this morning. I thankfully don't have a matching pair (my right ankle has been broken previously from a riding accident) but it is bloody annoying.

It's my own stupid thought though as the three possible points where I may have knocked it involved me jumping from one point to another. I stood out of most of the final fight to take a drink and catch my breath while Glamoria healed the IC damaged left leg. I either did it:

At the bottom of the bank as we came down into the valley, in the hole I found behind the mound or when I jumped down the mound to begin my ic healing and ooc drink.

Another interesting thing was that it didn't hurt that much until I got out of the car at home and was then obviously worse this morning.

[xanthipe]

Yeah, that sounds familiar - the wrist waited until I was alone in the house at 2am to suddenly go "...and PAIN!"

Good to hear that it's not too serious, please try not to undo the healing through boredom :P

[formyed.livejournal.com]

As someone recovering from two ankle injuries, keeping it wrapped tightly for the first day or so after the injury isn't a bad idea. However, she also needs to try to move it or she'll lose range of motion. And IB PROFEN!!! You want to get the inflammation down.