How to know if my ankle is fractured?

Are you wondering whether your ankle is fractured or just sprained, but don’t fancy a trip to the doctor’s office? Fear not! In this guide, we’ll help you figure out if your injury warrants a trip to the ER or just some rest and ice. But beware, as with all things humorous, take everything with a grain of salt.

The Basics of Ankle Fractures

Before we dive into symptom-checking territory let’s establish what exactly an ankle fracture is. Sorry smarty-pants anatomy enthusiasts; we mean the absolute basics here.

An ankle fracture occurs when one of three bones in your ankle break – namely the fibula, tibia or talus bone. You’ll know something has gone wrong when it hurts like hell and walking becomes way more challenging than usual – which begs the question…

When Can I Be Certain It’s More Than Just An Awkward Landing?

Sometimes awkwardly stepping off a curb can leave you limping around for days afterwards- so how do you tell if it’s just soreness caused by getting older (welcome!) or something more serious?
There are several signs that could point towards a broken bone:

Symptom Explanation
Swelling and/or bruising at joint area Breaks typically cause bleeding under surrounding soft tissue causing swelling in injured area
Numbness/Tingling/Pins & Needles Sensations Around Your Foot Area Depending on where precisely along your foot/ankle this occurs can help determine which bones/damage may have occurred by referring pain patterns

These common symptoms should be taken seriously as they’re often associated with fractures; however there are even clearer indicators:

  1. Extreme Pain
  2. Immense difficulty putting weight on affected leg region
    3 . Pronounced change in the shape of your ankle (we’re no alien force but ankles aren’t exactly meant to droop at peculiar angles)

If you’re experiencing any of these, it’s time to seek medical attention. ASAP!

The Foolproof Tell-Tale Signs

We don’t just stop at obvious indicators around here! Below are some less known signs that sHouLdn’T bE WeIgHiNg On YoUr SuRfAcE

1) Being told by a trusted source “oh I broke my ankle years ago and didn’t even realise straight away”- bit suspect right? Chances are they found out pretty soon after…
2) Irritating feeling when having shoes or socks pulled off over the affected foot
3) An inability to move each toe appropriately due to sharp pain

If anything above set off alarm bells in your mind, it’s not too late( yet), grab yourself an ice pack and start contemplating waiting for several hours until symptoms evolve further- maybe spend this time learning a new language or baking bread.

What To Do If You Think Your Ankle Is Broken

Firstly- resist temptation from friends with smartphones trying diagnose via internet searches (we all know we react like fuel thrown onto anxious flames when given contradictory conclusions). Most importantly do NOT continue any activity that initially caused your injury-this is like pouring oil on fire.
The most effective way determine if you have a fracture would be undergoing an X-ray. As every circumstance is unique, there’s little point describing how X-rays themselves work -if you’re interested in science you probably already know this.

Alternatively speedy replies can sometimes be received via phone consultation lines so save yourself sweating near chemicals people drunk enough hallucinating Hugh Grant only to wait ages in emergency room queues.

Takeaway

Like making baked goods; determining whether one has broken their ankle takes sufficient first-hand experience before boasting about newly acquired expertise. We totally get the frustration of not always being able to 100% tell what kind of pain you’re in-  but in conclusion if your ankle looks like it belongs to someone else entirely, acts crankier than a toddler missing their nap or even worse seems to resemble an omelette then let’s make one thing clear – doesn’t belong on this planet because statistically speaking aliens are yet to be discovered .

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