Rolled ankle

Hi everyone,

I've been having a pretty good run of it lately, handling things pretty well though of course still in the healing process. Yesterday I rolled my ankle, though, and sprained it. It necessitated xrays at the ER because the pain was so intense. But it's not broken, hurray!

Now I'm in a splint and have crutches. Boy, it sucks. Crutches hurt to use; lots of tension all over; oh blah blah blah.

Honestly, it was pretty icky going into an ER setting as if there were an emergency just for a sprained ankle, but it was the only way to figure out if it wasn't fractures. And they overmedicalize everything. They couldn't tell me anything about the sprain, only that it wasn't fractured, and referred me to an orthopedic surgeon "in case you need surgery or physical therapy." But then the tech also gave me some extra ACE bandages and said "these are for when it starts to get better." I have to keep telling myself "it's just a sprain, it's just a sprain." And reminding myself that the body heals.

And it's my driving foot. How 'bout that.

So I'm all...itched up. Revved up. Fine and then not fine, over and over again.

I just thought I'd reach out.

I hope you're all doing well.

 

Hi dlane,

Thanks for the reaching out. Totally get the feelings about the sprained ankle and going to the hospital but glad they cleared you of anything serious like a fracture.

I sprained my ankle about a year and a half ago and had a similar experience where I needed to go to the hospital to get it checked out. Once they cleared the ankle for a break they made it very clear that it will heal in 6-8 weeks.

Now, I was worried about it turning into a focal point for TMS but actually I recovered in the time frame and got back to living life. I have full faith that this will be the same for you. This was helped along by what you are already mentioning: reminders that it'll heal and that spraining my ankle wasn't my fault - it was an accident that could happen to anyone.

Injuries can be scary for us people prone to TMS so I would like to extend kindness to the parts of you that are freaking out a bit right now with the knowledge that you will be okay. This will heal.

 

Thank you sooo much! This is the line of thinking I'm working on but yes, there are these parts that want to TMS it. I really appreciate your kindness and affirmation.

 

I try to remember that as much as we "demonize" the medical industry here and through our TMS lens, there is one thing it does well, very well in fact, and that is dealing with traumatic pain. By that I mean pain from trauma - so rolled ankles, broken bones, open wounds, etc.

So rest assured you are being taken care of and follow the medical/PT advice as much as possible. If after 6 weeks of healing and you're still dealing with unusual and chronic pain, then at that point it would make sense to put on your TMS hat again.

 

Thanks. They didn't give me a lot of information but I know how to do RICE, etc. and am making sure to rest it intensively these first couple of days. I think I'm getting hung up on them wanting me to see an orthopedist. Normally with a sprain I would not have seen a doctor at all -- it just was intense enough that I needed to go in to get X-rays to make sure it wasn't broken. But it's like once you go, the referrals start...

So I'm trying to be at peace with not going to the doctor unless it doesn't seem to be improving, in which case I'll see my PCP. It's already improved today, which is good.

 

That is just TMS talk from me. My lizard brain wants me to obsess. I'm feeling very perfectionist about it -- like, "What if I start bearing weight on it too soon OR not soon enough???"

It'll heal -- the body heals -- it'll all be just fine.

 

Going to the doc was the right move. I had a bad sprain once, rolled my ankle in a trail race and actually heard an audible "pop" sound as I did it. Figured it was just a sprain though, but the visit to the dr revealed a little bone had snapped off - so into a walking boot I went.

 

Thanks! Your reassurance is helpful. Yeah, that's why I went -- the pain was really intense and I knew it was important to rule out a break.
That sounds very uncomfortable with your ankle! Glad you got the care you needed.

 

Yes! This right here. It's good you went to the doctor. I would have if I had injured something. Especially you want to make sure there is not break. Now that you know exactly what it is-you can take care of it by RICE and you know it will heal up. It just will take some time. Sorry you are having to go through this-take care!

 

Thank you so much, @Joulegirl