How to Tell if Your Ankle is Sprained or Broken
If you notice pain in your foot or ankle, you know that something’s gone wrong. But you can’t always tell if you’re just experiencing a temporary problem, or if you’re facing an injury. Even more complicated? When you do know that you’re hurt, it’s often tough to tell the difference between a sprained or broken ankle.
Why do these injuries present with similar symptoms? Well, your feet and ankles are full of tendons, cartilage, ligaments and bones. So, pain and pressure in your ankle could indicate damage to any of these structures. Want to know what’s causing that ankle pain? Keep reading to find out the difference between an ankle sprain or fracture (also called a break).
Differences in Sprains and Fractures
A sprained ankle describes a stretch or tear to your tendons or ligaments. This is a common sports injury, and it’s often associated with trips and falls.
Symptoms of a sprained ankle include:
Bruising
Swelling
Instability
A broken ankle describes a crack or break in your bone. We can only diagnose this injury with an X-ray. Symptoms of a broken ankle are like those you see with a sprain. Plus, many people sprain and break their ankles in one injury.
So, how do we diagnose a sprained or broken ankle? An X-ray determines if you’ve broken any bones. And you’ll know to come in for an X-ray if it’s extremely difficult to put weight on your injured ankle, or if movement of any kind is very painful. Also, with a sprained ankle, pain may be widespread. In contrast, the pain of a broken ankle is usually localized to the injury spot.
Now, many people are able to walk on sprained or broken ankles. But doing so can cause further damage to your ankle and extend your healing time. So, the safest way to avoid complications is to request a physical exam as soon as you notice ankle pain.
Help for Sprained or Broken Ankles
In our Westfield, IN podiatry practice, we treat sprained ankles with rest and compression. Icing and over the counter anti-inflammatories can also help with swelling and pain. If your injury is severe, we may provide you with a walking boot to keep weight off your ankle without compromising mobility.
For broken ankles, you’ll also need a walking boot or cast. In some cases, you may need surgery to heal a fractured ankle. Especially if the injury displaced the bone, which means the split shards moved out of alignment.
Of course, getting the right ankle treatment is the only way to heal properly. But for that to happen, you need an accurate diagnosis. Now, even with the help of this blog, it’s tough to know what kind of ankle injury you’re facing at home. That’s why your best move to make after hurting your ankle is to call us right away. We’ll get you in the office, diagnose your trauma and heal you as quickly as possible!