A couple weeks ago (about 4 or 5), i sprained my ankle pretty badly when some guy went in studs up on my ankle. it was swollen for quite a while, but after 4 weeks off, i feel fine. i can run, jump, cut, and there doesn't seem to be any pain. but yesterday, when i was just fooling around in my house, just locking my ankles and just hitting the ball to get use to shooting again, i realized that it hurts to shoot. like i can feel a twinge of pain whenever i lock my ankle and hit the ball even if i kick it pretty light. i compared my ankles with one another, and the outside of the ankles are the same, but there is still a tiny bit of swelling towards the inside of the ankle, and when i press on it, it feels a bit bruised. does anyone know waht it is? is it a slightly torn ligament? or what, because i can run, jump, cut, and pass without much discomfort, but when i locked my ankle and strike a ball even lightly, it hurts.
By definition a sprained ankle means there are torn ligaments. When the original injury occurred was there some kind of inward or outward twisting motion? One way I'm picturing is that coming in studs up wouldn't sprain your ankle but gave you bruising in that area. But if you did tear something in there... ligaments are inelastic, so even once they heal they are still stretched out so stability may be an issue. You have to strengthen the supporting muscles around the ankle to regain that strength and stability. When the guy came in studs up he may have made caused more injury to a structure (hard to say what it is on the internet) that locks your ankle. I'm captain cautious these days with any lower leg injury. I love to play soccer and would rather pay the $20 copay to get diagnosed properly than to severely injure it. The ANNOYING thing is that they insist on taking xrays even though I'm sure it's soft tissue issue and that can't be seen on an xray. Then they recommend an MRI which is a ton of money out of pocket. /rant... hope the prior stuff helps with your question.
Too bad ... you need a good rest.. for you to be able to practice if keep on practicing your ankle injury will swell really big...
I'm going to differ on elessar78 here. Ligaments are elastic. A sprained ankle happens when your ligaments, which are supposed to keep the bone in the socket, pushes it back into the socket. Sometimes it is no big deal. But, there is always the potential for damage to bone, ligaments, tendons and so on. The fact you have some bruising and possible swelling is likely to mean there was some kind of damage. R - rest I - ice C - compress E - elevate Elessar78's advise to get an MRI is a very good idea. It can cost a lot of money. The best thing you can do is call your insurance company and see where you can get it done cheaply. One time when I needed an MRI I found out it would have cost me $1,000 out of my pocket if I went to where my doctor told me to go. After I called the insurance company they sent me to a place where I got it done for free.
thanks for all the feedback. really appreciated. the best way i can explain what happened is through these pictures. basically i believe that was what happened (it went by so fast, i don't remember what really happened), but for sure, my ankle looked like that rite after the tackle. it was so swollen and it hurt to walk. but now, walking, jumping, cutting, passing (inside of foot) is all fine. no pain. but its only when i lock my ankles and strike the ball is when the pain happens. the swelling around my ankle is all but gone, except for this one patch where its still a bit swollen, and when i press it, it feels bruised. which is y im confused. i can run and do all the movements fine, but its only when i lock my ankles, and strike does it hurt.
Sorry, Jose P is right. Ligaments ARE elastic and TENDONS inelastic. My med degree is on hold right now . I'm going by what my ortho told me many moons ago when I sprained my ankle... this may be a more comprehensive definition since I'm not going from memory: http://www.soccer-training-guide.com/what-is-a-sprain.html