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Ankle swollen in one area 3 weeks post-sprain

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brittany68748
brittany68748

I sprained my ankle pretty badly about 3 weeks ago. Doctor said it was a grade 2 sprain. A couple days ago, I noticed that the swelling was almost gone except for in one area. There is significant swelling on the outside of my ankle right underneath the bone. It looks like a lump. It's red and hot to the touch in only that one area and a couple veins are protruding. Honestly, I've been extremely worried that it might be a blood clot. I've heard that ankle injuries increase your risk for DVT. Especially because I'm generally inactive. On the flip side, I'm only 22 years old, I have no family history of DVT, and the swelling could possibly be due to me starting to do the prescribed ankle exercises. But it's been 3 days since I've noticed it and it hasn't gotten any better. It's freaking me out a bit because it's starting to feel like I'm cutting my circulation off if I position my foot at a certain angle. Maybe it's because of the protruding vein. I have no clue how any of this works and that's what worries me so much. I want to go get it checked out, but unfortunately, I live in an area with a lot of coronavirus cases and I'm unable to go to an ER. Anyway, is it normal to have localized swelling in just that one area? Would a blood clot present as a bump under my ankle bone?

0 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • brittany68748
    brittany68748

    Posted

    image

    This is a picture of it.

    • rose71920
      rose71920 brittany68748

      Posted

      Elevate ! Elevate and more ! Ice and up over your heart for sprain like that. You need to heal before putting weight on that sprain. Most sprains are worse than breaks because with a break most surgeons can fix them. Sprains you can't. So you want to take the precautions now to heal it properly.

      You want to follow the Rice method.

      R = Rest

      I = Ice

      C= Compression

      E - Elevate

      Good luck! 😃

  • jessica71699
    jessica71699 brittany68748

    Posted

    I'm not a doctor only someone who has undergone two ankle surgeries and doing well. I was always told to take an aspirin once a day for 6 weeks to prevent blood clots. Ask your doctor if you should. Good luck!

  • Llamalah
    Llamalah brittany68748

    Edited

    I'm also not a doctor, but my understanding is that DVT typically presents with leg pain and calf cramping as well as your skin will be red and hot to touch. Additionally, you can have chest pain. These are the signs that I was told to look out for when I broke my ankle. They said that while I was non-weight bearing that was when I was to be concerned. I had blood thinner shots every day. However, once I started weight bearing on it, the risk was minimal and I didn't need to shots anymore.

    If you are walking on the ankle your risk is low, especially as you have no family history of DVT. In the picture, it looks like your ankle is slightly bruised still and swollen but not overly red. Are you still icing and elevating it? If you have started new exercises, you might need to go back to icing it again if you have stopped.

    Another thing you can do is draw a pen line around the redness and monitor if it is getting worse or better over time, this way you can tell then doctors about it as well.

    I understand the concern though, I ended up back in the hospital at 2 weeks post op because I had sudden, sharp chest pain which freaked me out that I had a clot and they checked for everything. In the end it was muscle spasm from using my arms to move around so much! Better to check and be safe though.

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