swollen ankle

“Back last September during the 6 day trip through the White Mountains my left ankle started hurting.
It kinda hurt again when I did my LBL thru-hike. I loosened my boot and it quit hurting.

Now for no reason it's swollen up. It don't really hurt but it's just puffy.
Anybody ever get this?
Should I just have the foot removed below the shin?
Suggestions?”

“Remove it and get a new one.

8)”

“I'll get a Bionic one.
The 6 Million Dollar Dude!!”

“hmmmm.

Nope -- never had a 'delayed reaction' type thing. All of mine have been the immediate reaction swelling. Mine hurt like #&%!$, though.”

“Maybe I just need to go out for a walk and give it a bit of exercise.”

“ooh, I wonder if you've got gout in your ankle. Usually it's the joint of your big toe, but I think it can happen in any joint.

Mine hurt like hell the first time, then less with each following attack. I don't hardly ever get it anymore.

Did you eat something really rich and fatty today?”

“You just described how I eat every day.”

“No, I mean REALLY rich and fatty, like lots of butter or cream. Spicy doesn't hurt either.

I used to set it off with this Italian dish called Salsiccia e Pepi. Italian sausage, peppers and small white potatoes, with a lot of butter used to boil the potatoes. I could feel the joint of my big toe slowly expanding in my shoe as I ate it.


Yummmmmmmmm.

Anyway, gout in your ankle joint is a long shot. Did you ever break it or something like that?”

“I used to sprain it once in a while back when I used to run. I quit running about 12 years ago.
I didn't eat anything out of the norm. today.
I don't remember tweeking it either.
I did bite a chunk out of my toungue while at Sonic today.”

“tongue = toungue”

“Ice that puppy.”

“I'll try that. Thanks Artex.”

“I think it would be cool of you could cut it off and get a new one.

8)”

“Ice is best. Get the swelling down and try to figure out why it happens later.”

“Sorry, feel bad for you Dude! Mine used to do that too, back in the days of track and football.

I don`t have close to six-million in the two of mine yet, but I`ve invested several hundred thousand already with more to come. Mine`ll swell up if I`m up on `em very much still and I still have to elevate `em to ever get the sweling to go back down.

It`s not as bad as it was,.. I sure hope your`s gets better too!”

“Thanks everybody!
The wierd thing is, it don't really hurt. It's just swollen. I'm going to take an Ace wrap to work tommorrow and see how that works.”

“Hey Dude, do you think you might be retaining water. Your ankle area will swell esp. if you are on your feet all day...that happens when you get old”

“I do stand on concrete all day. I'll let the first aid guy at work look at it.
Maybe I just started "getting old".”

“Yep, that's it Dude, you're getting old. First the ankle, then every other part breaks, falls, or hurts. Welcome to the senior citizens club!”

“hehehehe”

“WD,
After 30 days on the JMT, I was in great shape. Two days back to work my ankles looked like elephant ankles but they didn't hurt. The following weekend I did two dayhikes and the swelling went down. Back to work and they got swollen again. It took about a month for the ankles to go back to normal. Never found out what it was, but it was close to my birthday, and that's the time of year everything falls apart.”

“WD if ice doesnt work to well, get one of those new heat straps. They have them in different sizes so you could put it around your ankle. It does take the swelling down. CVS Pharmacy has them. Only if it still is swollen after ice.”

“Evil Boot!
LMAO @ sirpete!!

It's still swollen but still no pain. I'll check out one of them heat strips. Thanks Prowler.
I'm not too worried about it since there's no pain but I know I shouldn't totally ignor it.

Snow Nymph
Does your ankle still swell up?”

“I had an ankle do that once after a hike. Swelled up as big as a softball on the drive home. Never did hurt, though. It was a really rocky trail and I just assumed I twisted it and didn't pay much attention. I have sprained it several times in the past. I iced it and elevated it. After a couple of days I put heat on it. The swelling went down and it hasn't returned. I never did hurt. Anywho, my point is maybe you did twist it and were focused on something else and didn't really notice it at the time. Or didn't think much of it.

Just my $.02 worth.”

“Sometimes certain precription drugs will cause swelling in the ankles and lower legs. Are you taking any?”

“Nope, I'm drug free.”

“I never had something swell without good reason. Take advantage of the situation and hobble around like an amputee. Solicit unnecessary sympathy from your SO and all the chicks at work. Let them rub your ankle and anything else that swells.”

“Ice for a couple of days, then, heat pad for a few days.
Neoprene wrap every day at work.
The wrap prevents swelling, heats the area up and locates more blood in the area for faster healing.”

“Well, it's went down except for one spot where it has became a puffy knot (if that makes sence). It's in the exact location where it hurt in the past. I'll see how it does this weekend. I wasn't sure if I had to work or not Saturday till almost time to leave work.
I'm going to BP the Canal Loop Trail at LBL this weekend. Not sure when I'll get there. The loop is only 12 miles and so if I get there too early I'll have it finished before dark. For a one nighter my pack should only weigh about 15 to 20 pounds so there won't be much more stress than normal on the ankle.”

“Saturday
Scattered Thunderstorms
High: 60
Low: 19

Sunday
Mostly Sunny
High: 48
Low: 28

Looks to be a fun weekend!!”

“Sounds to me like advance stages of Metobolic Bone Disease.. ;)”

“I recon I'll have to drink more milk then”

“Actually its a disease that Iguanas get...unless your green scaly with slanted eyes and a long tail I think you'll be OK...Like SN said about the post hike swelling I've had the same thing happen..my toes looked like little sausages....”

“Cut it off and see if you grow a new one.”

“>"Snow Nymph
Does your ankle still swell up?"

Nope! It was only for a month or so after, but no pain. SnowDude had a big lump at the base of his thumb/palm. Didn't hurt, but it was big and stuck out like a bone or something. It was there for ~2 months, then last week iit disappeared! ????”

“Dude.... you mentioned that it's your ankle, but where exactly on your ankle is it? Is it in the front, on the lateral(outside), medial(inside), or posterior area? What makes it better(ie. less swelling), what makes it worse(more swelling)? What time of the day is it the most swollen?
You mentioned that there isn't much pain associated with it... does it hurt when you press on the area where the bump is? Can you describe what the bump feels like when you press on it? I have a couple of ideas, but before I go opening my mouth I'd like to know a little bit more about it.... heaven knows, I wouldn't want to actually offer "medical advice"... someone might take it as the gospel truth or something! ;->”

“It's on the side (outside) about an inch above the ankle bone. The swelling just came up around the area just yesterday afternoon. That is all gone now except for the one spot just above the bone. It looks kinda like I got two ankle bones.
This is the first time it ever swelled. The last time it started hurting I loosened up my boot and it pretty much quit hurting. Since then I don't tighten that boot up very tight.”

“I'm going to be doing 10 - 14 miles BPing this weekend so I'll be babying it and not using my normal pace. I plan to keep my left boot loose.”

“I sprained both ankles several times when I was playing basketball. Once in a while I would have swelling and puffiness return to the area without any pain. It would eventually go away after a few days. But I healed quicker and easier then. I hope it's nothing serious.”

“Well, I did 14 miles on the ankle this weekend and it held up fine. It's still got that puffy place just above the ankle bone but it don't hurt.”

“sissy
















I did 25











hehehehe”

“I did 5. No swelling that I can tell.”

“Hey Dude!

Glad to hear it didn't bug you this weekend.... sometimes what happens (especially if you've sprained it before) is the ligament develops a small nodule (or knot) in it. This can irritate the ligament sheath which causes swelling....
It can also happen when your body tries to compensate for spraining your ankle.... it can cause you to overuse the tendons on the outside of your ankle which can lead to swelling and sometimes pain.

Treatment for both of 'em? R.I.C.E. R-Rest, I-Ice, C-Compression & E-Elevation. Ice is really only effective for the first 24-48hrs with swelling... after that heat is better since it increases blood flow to the area and helps with the healing process. You might try like someone suggested, a neoprene wrap for it the next time you go out (reduces ankle movement & therefore irritation, also provides a bit more cushioning), and get it checked by your doctor young man! If it's what I think, corticosteroids can be injected to help the healing process and reduce the swelling..... but that's just my $0.01 worth (it'd be $0.02, but with the exchange rate & all) ;->”

“sirpete
You Pu$$y! Where were you when I 67 miles in 3 days?!?!
hahaha

bacpac
You kick @ss bro!

Medic_girl
Thanks for the info. I'll try a wrap on it at work tommorrow. My feet are always propped when I'm sitting here on TT. Keypad in lap and I'm TTing! Rest? LMAO! I never really have time to rest. Let's change the "R" word to recreation. As far as the Doc, I haven't had a Doc in about 8 years. The old b@stard retired. Haven't really needed one since. 50% exchange rate huh?”

“Yup... pretty close these days..... I think our dollar is worth about $0.63 US right now..... yippee! ;o)”