WAG Ankle sprain healing question

[Committed]

Last Thursday, my little gymmie sprained her ankle at gym. The details are a little fuzzy between DD and coach, but I think it was hurt from smacking the springboard, not actually twisting her ankle.

Anyway, we got an Xray and the Dr. confirmed a sprain, not a fracture. In fact, she said it was pretty severe due to the swelling. I've been applying the RICE method to her healing (rest, ice, compression, and elevation) for the whole weekend. In fact, her school gave her a crutch to hobble around on.

So, it's now Sunday afternoon, and she swears that she can walk now. I don't really know because I'm making her stay off her foot as much as I possibly can. And the swelling is almost completely gone. I gently moved her foot around, and she says it only hurts in the "sickle foot" direction.

On to my question, could she possibly be almost better by now? To me, it sounds ridiculous, and I'm thinking she's just tired of sitting on the couch. Or did she really heal that quickly? It seems silly to completely trust a little girl on an injury that could get much worse if not healed properly.

 

[UnoMas]

Ok, so not a doctor, and not giving any medical advice....just my experience. My DD once had a pretty badly sprained ankle (very swollen and bruised, looked broken) that was completely healed in less than a week. She injured it on a Monday and competed on it that weekend without pain. We did a lot of ice, compression wraps, etc. It was amazing how quickly it healed up and it has never given her another problem (that was 3 years ago now).

So it is possible to heal quickly but if it still hurts to move in that one direction then she should definitely be careful with it. She should not do anything at all on it that causes pain. Follow doctor's orders on how long to stay off of it for walking and gym! But maybe she will be lucky and it really will be a super quick healing injury.

 

[flips123]

It could be completely healed, but... I severely sprained my ankle (grade 2/3) over 2 years ago. We went to the ER and I was instructed to be on crutches for 2-3 weeks and no gym for at least a month. I ended up only on crutches for a week and out of gym for two. My ankle never fully healed and after spraining it again and again, it's completely different from the other one(I always have to wear and ankle brace, it pops in and out, not much muscle, yada yada ya). So If I were you I'd give it a couple more days and then see how she really is doing.

 

[gymgal]

arghhh!!! this is the 3rd time I try to post this. it keeps locking me out. now trying on firefox. hopefully it works. it won't even let me copy/paste.

dd had a level 2 ankle sprain of two ligaments 6 weeks ago. She was able to walk without pain within a week after so your dd may be doing fine - that doesn't mean she is ready for training though. dd was back on bars within a few days but it took 3 weeks before she was running, jumping, and doing her skills on high beam. (level 7). and at 6 wks out, she is still only at about 90% back. She still has pain on certain skills and balance is still off (not for daily routines but definitely in the gym). the ortho told her to let pain be her guide but to make sure she protected it (tape, brace). She did 4 wks of PT to help speed the recovery b/c we were trying to get her back for state meet.

btw, the ortho said that the look of the foot at injury isn't a good indicator of the severity. mild sprains can look really bad and severe sprains can show very little. dd's swelling was gone in about a week but the bruising (which started around day 5 and spread down to her toes) lasted a couple weeks.

 

[Committed]

For those who aren't on the parent forum.......
It ended up being a chipped ankle bone, and she is now in a cast for 4 weeks

 

[gymnastflip]

that's a shame. I had a sprained ankle a couple months ago(grade 2 and 3 on one ligament) and couldn't walk at all for 2 days and then it suddenly started healing and I could walk almost normally within a week. I only missed 2 gym days and then worked bars for a couple weeks and started beam but tumble has only really stopped hurting now and every short landing is excruciating :S
Although a break seams bad it may heal in the same time or even shorter as if it was sprained- so I wouldn't worry too much