what do i do for a sprained ankle after a week on crutches, aircast and frequent icing? Next "step"?
80336
You need to get the swelling down first. Then you need to start a rehab program that will strenghten your ankles and restore range of motion. \n\nMake certain that your doctor has released you to start rehab before you start any rehab program. \n\nR.I.C.E. is not a rehab program, it is an injury treatment protocol that has nothing to do with rehabilitation. \n\nYour rehab program should include the use of a wobble board. It will help you regain the range of motion that you lost with your injury and will help your brain understand the position your ankle is in so you can avoid or minimize future sprains. \n\nWMake sure that you rehab/strengthen both ankles so you don't doom yourself to recurring and alternating sprains. \n\nThe biggest mistake most people make is they don't rehab both ankles so one is strong and the other is weaker. Then they end up spraining the other ankle and starting the process all over again.
894198
i had a similar injury. try to stay off it until its better. ice it evry night 20mintes on 20 mintes off. do that ubntill ur board. and a big thing is some light stretching. dont tear ur leg apart just try to loosen it up
303835
depends on the injury elevate it or try ice i think is 20min on then 20 off if it hurts inside i'd get it checked by a doctor i  hurt my knee and kept playing sport and i actually had torn by acl
62186
If your ankle is sprained, you should stay off of it.  I know thats not what you wanted to hear.  Dr's really won't do anything for a sprain but wrap it with an ace bandage(they sell them at walmart)tell you to stay off of it, keep ice on it and keep it elevated.  Good Luck!
919495
Ice and rest.  If you are sure it is just sprained just put ice on it for a while--15 min on/15 min off for the first 24 hrs.  rest your thumb by wearing a brace or splint (you can buy at drug store) for a few days.  Take tylenol or advil for any pain.  if the pain increases or it gets to the point where you think it is broken see a dr.
195174
ice 20 mins if its swollen, heat 20 mins for pain.  if your knee is giving out you should have an MRI to make sure nothing is torn.\n\nyes, you will get crutches if you go to the er. even if nothing is wrong. and a full leg brace with velcro straps.
737304
I would start a physical therapy regimen.  However you may need to see an orthopedist to make sure you aren't injuried seriously.  you could have tendinitis or arthiritis if you have been playing for a long time.  If your tendons and bones are okay however you should be doing excersies in the gym to strengthen the area and working the area in question.  Make sure you are stretching before your activity and icing after you play.  I would buy ankle wraps so that you don't have to tape them up everytime.  Look into sports therapy and sports medicine websites, there you can get a list of excersises that will help your cause.  \n\nGood Luck!
604834
If you're not a professional, wait until it is completely healed and just pound the pavement for now. If you are, talk to the trainer.
813155
Foot Dr is sending u to another physician?  Look is the leg swollen or the ankle?  \n\nIf u sprain ur ankle it's going to take a while for it to heal.  I'm surprised they didn't put u in an air splint cast... it's an easy on/off support to wear while walking.  U can even wear normal shoes... Soaking in  warm,Epsom salt can't hurt nightly either.  But your going to have to prop the leg and rest it.   If the swelling is your leg... u need to definitely see the orthopedist.  U should see them if your ankle doesn't get better.  U might have a hairline fracture or worse.  Take it easy, rest the ankle and if it doesn't get better in few weeks go back to the foot doctor or orthopedist.
931262
Try to ice the affected area-add an ice pack and compressive bandage if you can to control swelling.Avoid heat (hot baths,hot water bottles,heat pads,heat cream etc.) for the first few days as this will make your injury worse.After the first few days you can start to use heat to help with the healing process,-try alternating between hot and cold compresses to speed up recovery. If the pain is significant, or if the symptoms do not steadily resolve, medical evaluation should be obtained.\nGet well soon.
1063283
ice,  elevate your hand and watch it...if it just happenned you have to expect swelling...if the injury happened a few days ago u should get it looked at in case it has a clot   and the ice should b on for first 24 hrs,  like a half hour at a time every 2 hrs,  then warm soaks next couple days   the point is to increase the circulation to reabsorb the blood...u broke blood vessels in there
417524
Best thing you can do is the old standard ICE treatment: \n\nIce - cool the area down to prevent increase swelling of the area and bruising\n\nCompress - wrap the area with a flexible pressure bandage, like an ace wrap, but not too tight\n\nElevate - elevate the area above the heart to prevent increased swelling into the area and to take weight off of it.\n\nSymptoms of the sprain are not much different from a strain.  The sprain is a overstreatching of a ligament, and a strain is a overstreatching of a muscle.  A break of the bone in the area may not hurt much at all, in fact, many people break bones and don't have symptoms until the next day.  For me, a strain or a sprain is ever so much more painful than a straight break.  The problem with a strain or a sprain is that unless you allow them to heal properly, the area will forever remain weak and prone to reinjury.  Best to stay off the foot for the evening, see how it goes tomorrow.  I C E it and that should help you.  \n\nIf you are having problem with feeling any parts, loss of sensation, then see your doctor because increased pressure on a nerve after a serious injury can cause permanent loss of sensation.  For this reason alone, elevating it, resting it, compressing it and icing it down for 72 hours should help.
532409
I had a similar experience about 2 years ago.  I fell and I thought I had a really bad sprain.  It was really swollen and I had bruises all the way up to my knee.  I had never broken anything before and I was pretty sure it wasn't broken.  I didn't hear anything snap and it hurt when I fell, but not too bad.  My mom, a nurse, came and looked at it and told me to keep it elevated.\n\nAbout a month later, I had an appointment with a Podiatrist for something totally unrelated.  When he saw how swollen and bruised I was after 4 weeks, he took an x-ray.  I had broken my leg and my ankle was broken in 3 places.  I was shocked - I always thought breaking a bone would be excruchiating pain!  I had to have surgery and they put a plate and some screws in there.  Now I'm back to normal, with a lovely scar to show for it.  No offense to my mom, but I'm thinking it's a good thing she is retired.\n\nIf after 6 weeks you are still swollen, there is definitely something wrong.  They've ruled out broken bones, but you'll have to wait for the MRI to find out what is really wrong.  Sure, you might need surgery, but it could be worse.  For example, did I mention the fact that I have MS, which affects my left leg and my breaks were in my right leg?  What this meant is that, because my left leg is not able to hold me up, crutches did no good.  I was basically living on my couch for 2 months.  \n\nGood luck with everything - I'm sure you'll be fine =)
901452
If you sprained or damaged you achilles tendon at all expect it to take a long time to heal. Tendons in general take an extended an amount of time due to limited blood flow in these areas. One of the key things to do here for your foot is rest, rest, rest. You need to elevate your foot as much as possible above the level of your heart, primarily at night. Stick it on a pillow for example. Another thing you will want to consider is a good supportive brace. A brace will keep your foot in the right position for healing and will help further damage hindering the healing process. If it all possible uses crutches as well just to keep the weight off the foot. Stretch as often as possible, to prevent it from healing stiff. Do not do any stressful excercise on it this will only make it worse. E.g. running, biking, and any other action sport. \n\nIt will take a full year before your ankle will be completely healed. Ligaments and tendons if damaged require a very long time to heal. If you keep the things I told you in mind, your ankle should feal good w/in two months. After that you will notice some stiffness and slight pain in the morning or after extensive stress on foot. But after 4 months your foot should feel quite workable. It will still be weak and easier prone to sprains in the future. Because of this I highly recommend using support braces each and every time you are active.
483868
Depends on what you did to your knee that caused the pain- and you call a doctor for an evaluation, because many things can have gone amok:)  If the pain is acute, go to an Emergency Room.\n\nFirstly, if you inured it, the rule of thumb is RICE\n\n    *  Rest: Resting is important immediately after injury for two reasons. First, rest is vital to protect the injured muscle, tendon, ligament or other tissue from further injury. Second, your body needs to rest so it has the energy it needs to heal itself most effectively.\n    * Ice: Use ice bags, cold packs or even a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a thin towel to provide cold to the injured area. Cold can provide short-term pain relief. It also limits swelling by reducing blood flow to the injured area. Keep in mind, though, that you should never leave ice on an injury for more than 15-20 minutes at a time. Longer exposure can damage your skin. The best rule is to apply cold compresses for 15 minutes and then leave them off for at least 20 minutes. (Read The Proper Use of ICE).\n    * Compression: Compression limits swelling, which slows down healing. Some people notice pain relief from compression as well. An easy way to compress the area of the injury is to wrap an ACE bandage over it. If you feel throbbing, or if the wrap just feels too tight, remove the bandage and re-wrap the area so the bandage is a little looser.\n    * Elevation: Elevating an injury reduces swelling. It's most effective when the injured area is raised above the level of the heart. For example, if you injure an ankle, try lying on your bed with your foot propped on one or two pillows. \n\nAfter a day or two of R.I.C.E., many sprains, strains or other injuries will begin to heal. But if your pain or swelling does not decrease after 48 hours, make an appointment to see your primary care physician or go to the emergency room, depending upon the severity of your symptoms.\n\nOnce the healing process has begun, very light massage may improve the function of forming scar tissue, cut healing time and reduce the possibility of injury recurrence.\n\nGentle stretching can be begun once all swelling has subsided. Try to work the entire range of motion of the injured joint or muscle, but be extremely careful not to force a stretch, or you risk re-injury to the area. Keep in mind that a stretch should never cause pain. For proper stretching technique, review Flexibility Exercises.\n\nHeat may be helpful once the injury moves out of the acute phase and swelling and bleeding has stopped. Moist heat will increase blood supply to the damaged area and promote healing.\n\nFinally, after the injury has healed, strengthening exercises can be begun. Start with easy weights and use good form. See Strengthening Exercises.
420614
FIrst, shin splints are not fractures as quoted above.  Don't let that scare you.  They are generally from overdoing it too sson though.  Good shoes are important, but also some compression will help.  You can use soccer socks that are too small for you.  As long as they cover the painful area and squeeze you calf and shin a bit.  Also, ice them down as soon as you finish running.  Use the little 4 oz bathroom cups, fill them with water and freeze them.  Ice your whins with them tearing away the paper on the cup as it melts.  Use the whole cup.  Lastly, exercise those muscles that hurt.  Stand on a bottom stair on your heals with your arch and forefoot hanging over the edge.  Hold on for balance if you need to.  Allow your toes to lower toward the floor and then pull them all the way back up within a few reps you should feel those muscles in the front of your shin working.  Time yourself, if you can do it continuously for 30 seconds, then you rest an equal time (30 seconds in this case) and do it again.  Do 3 sets. Do these on a day you don't run, or after running, never before and ice afterward, just like after having run.
817929
I broke my little toe once.  I could tell it was broken because there was VERY strong sharp pain whenever I touched it or tried to walk.  I went to the E.R., and they gave me a "walking cast" which is basically a boot that I could take on and off.  It has a rounded sole so that you can walk comfortably without putting any pressure on the broken bone.  I did not need crutches, thank GOODNESS, but I had to wear the boot for a month.  It only cost me about $75 without insurance (that's not counting x-rays though... I got those for free through my college health center.)  You should go to the hospital.  Good luck!