How long does it take for a sprained ankle to heal?
365577
It takes 10 to 12 days to completely heal.  It will never be the same again.  The sprained part will always be more vulnerable to being injured, sprained again.  You have to always be conscious of this and warm up and stretch.  You won't listen to me because I bet you're still a teenager and warming up and stretching is too dorky for you still.  When you're older and after a few more sprains you'll know what I'm talking about.
1159741
Have you gone to a doctor yet?  It might be a sprain or a strain.  That can take anywhere from a few weeks to a year to heal.  I would stay off of it, and use ice if it starts to hurt too badly.  20 minutes with the ice, and 1 hour without it.  Do not keep the ice on for too long, because that can cause damage in and of itself.  I hope you heal up soon, babe!
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!
862993
You did the right thing - going to get it checked out.\n\nA Grade II sprain means there are torn fibres in the ligament, but it hasn't ruptured.  There could be visible bruising as well as swelling, and it will take several weeks to heal fully.\n\nThe inflammatory process that happens as a result of injury pushes fluid out into the tissues over the first 24-48 hours and this is why you should follow the RICE principles of treatment.\n\nNow that this period has passed, the body is starting to heal the injury by laying down collagen fibres (fibrin), and the best healing comes by starting to weight bear at this time - so again, you were spot on by starting to walk at the weekend.\n\nSo for the next week or so, it's a GOOD thing to walk, and to make every effort to walk normally.  If you can't walk without limping, use a crutch or stick to help take some of the weight, and within a few days you should be walking with a normal pattern and full weight again.  \n\nYou shouldn't aim to walk more than usual - but aim for plenty of short frequent walks.\n\nThe ankle will probable stay a little swollen for a while - you could wear a light support for comfort for a while.\n\nSoaking it in warm water now will help, or put a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel on it for a while in the evenings.\n\nMake sure you wear shoes that accommodate the swelling and help you to walk comfortably - lace ups, done up proplerly to help support the foot, runners are ideal.\n\nAll in all, you should be feeling much better very soon.\nGood luck!
88437
only thing that heals a sprain is time.use an ace bandage\nto keep the swelling down.see a doctor to make sure its not a broken bone or a tear.good luck.
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.
988969
Get a clue, your body is trying to tell you something. You need to see your doctor.\n\nTreatment may include:putting ice packs on the injured area for 20 to 30 minutes every 3 to 4 hours for 2 to 3 days or until the pain goes away, taking anti-inflammatory medications prescribed by your doctor and doing rehabilitation exercises to help you return to your activity.\n\nWhile you are recovering from your injury, you will need to change your activity to one that does not make your condition worse. You may need to swim instead of running.
269605
That means you worked the muscles. That's a good thing.  Wait 48 hours and do them again. Your stomach will be slightly stronger. (It takes about 48 hours for muscles to repair after exercise.)
460036
RICE Treatment.\nRest:\nThe first 24-48 hours after the injury is considered a critical treatment period and activities need to be curtailed. Gradually use the injured extremity as much as tolerated, by try to avoid any activities that cause pain. Often using a splint or slings is necessary to adequately rest the injured body part. \nIce:\nFor the first 48 hours post-injury, ice the sprain or strain 20 minutes at a time every 3-4 hours. The ice pack can be a bag of frozen vegetables (peas or corn), allowing you to be able to re-use the bag and it mould to your body.Alternatively, wrap ice in a clothing, place it on the affected area.\nCaution: Do NOT ice a sprain for more than 20 minutes at a time! You will not be helping heal the injury any faster, and you can cause damage to the tissues!\nCompression:\nUse compression when elevating sprain in early treatment. Using a crepe bandage, wrap the area overlapping the elastic wrap by one-half of the width of the wrap. The wrap should be snug, but not cutting off circulation to the extremity.If your fingers or toes become cold, blue, or tingle, re-wrap.It means it too tight.\nElevate:\nKeep your sprain higher than your heart if possible. Elevate at night by placing pillows under your shoulder. \n\nThis method works by constricting the flow of blood to the affected area. As blood circulation can take away the thing that repair the sprain.\nGet Well Soon :)
978008
If you have not had it x-rayed it may be a broken bone. You can walk on broken ankles and you never even know until it's x-rayed. For soft tissue injuries expect at the least 6 weeks to heal. Where do you hear the clicking sound? If it's from your knee it may be the meniscus the cartilage under the knee cap that is torn. I would suggest being seen.
455991
youre lucky you put it back in place, thats definately gonna make it sore so you gotta relax and try not to put too much pressure on it. if you had dislocated it that would have been 4-6 weeks wrapped up.
857554
Not a lady, and never had plates inserted, but I have had an ankle injury that lingered for months. About 10 years ago, I twisted my ankle while running in dress shoes to my commuter bus for work. It wasn't broken; just a bad sprain. However, I found out that a sprain can be worse than a break. It literally hurt me for five months. I couldn't put full weight on it and was limping around the entire time before the pain went completely away. In high school, I had a similar type of ankle sprain from playing football, and again it took a few months before it completely went away. \n\nUnfortunately, ankles are very delicate and heal very slowly because we are constantly putting weight on them. They do get better, eventually, but it's agonizing going through it. Not sure if the discomfort of the plates/screws will ever go away. But tell your friend to hang in there, and do the treatments and therapy as the doctors have prescribed, which should help significantly.
925842
I'm an ice hockey goaltender and have sprained my MCL pretty badly before. At its worst, it took several weeks to heal completely, probably about 6 weeks total. I'm sure the length varies depending on how badly you injured it, but can still ice the knee to keep the swelling down. \n\nThe real problem is that you still have to use it so much during the day. If you could just rest and rehab it, it might heal faster, but unless you're unemployed (which I don't think you are), you won't get to do that. Try icing it down for about 10 minutes at a time when you are resting in the evening. Don't overdo the stretching, either. In a few more weeks, you should be pain free.
700922
actually it depend with the doctor's prescription and about how he sees your condition. some ankle injuries really need imobilization and using crutches will really be a big help... to hasten recovery and promote comfort as well.
335138
Fractures take 6-8 weeks to heal.  I am presuming that no surgery was necessary to fix the bones/that you have no pins in place.  Given that you will need to stay off the foot until the bones are healed.  It will not be pain free once the cast (you may not even be in a cast yet, but you will be) comes off, but use your head about activity.\n\nThe tarsals can be a tricky group of bones to get complete healing.  Your doctor may be waiting for the swelling to decrease and for things to settle down before making any prognosis.  Ask him or her at your next appointment.  With this group of bones, it is entirely possible you that you will need physical therapy.  Ask you doctor about a "Les Franc" injury.  This is a special case that has a particularly bleak prognosis as far as your foot ever being normal again. \n\nIs there anything to do right now?  Not really.  If you smoke, stop.  Eat a healthy diet.  Keep things elevated and iced.  \n\nIs there some sort of desk duty or something you can do at your work, because if you need full use of your foot to do your work, its going to be a few months.
613010
Rest Ice Compression Elevation Stabalization-- RICES the old standby regimen. You have to do all of these things or your ankles won't heal. Also use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as naproxen or ibuprofen. If the sprains are severe enough, you might even need crutches. You should probably go to an orthopedist or sports medicine doctor to figure out exactly what is best in your situation. Good luck! Don't let this get you down!
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 =)