Dislocated swelling - Ibuprofen or let it go down itself?
August 12, 2011 9:22 AM Subscribe
Allow swelling to dissipate on it's own or use ibuprofen? Dislocated ankle, no break. I'm at the point where I can put my weight on it. Swelling is hindering a 90 degree stance and further flexing exercises.
You certainly won't hurt anything by using ice and/or ibuprofen, so I'd say you might as well.
posted by Dr. Wu at 9:29 AM on August 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Dr. Wu at 9:29 AM on August 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
Swelling is hindering
Take the ibuprofen.
posted by royalsong at 9:44 AM on August 12, 2011 [3 favorites]
Take the ibuprofen.
posted by royalsong at 9:44 AM on August 12, 2011 [3 favorites]
Take the ibuprofen. Do the ice/heat thing. Quit trying to flex it too much. Let it heal.
Experience: My right ankle is permanently swollen due to roughly spraining it really well once and never allowing it to heal properly.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 10:02 AM on August 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
Experience: My right ankle is permanently swollen due to roughly spraining it really well once and never allowing it to heal properly.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 10:02 AM on August 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Cool, thanks all. Gotta love having no insurance. Who needs a doc when you have AskMeFi? The ibuprofen I took for my back was really helping my foot.
posted by mrflibble at 10:05 AM on August 12, 2011
posted by mrflibble at 10:05 AM on August 12, 2011
Yeah, unless you take ibuprofen at Really High doses for a Long Time, there is not a lot of risk of harm. Whereas slowing the healing process and leaving swelling as is directly indicates harm. So while I'd be careful with Tylenol (not anti-inflammatory, more toxic at low doses), but ibuprofen is helping - keep with it!
posted by ldthomps at 10:13 AM on August 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by ldthomps at 10:13 AM on August 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
Who needs a doc when you have AskMeFi?
....Technology has not quite gotten to the point that a web site can perform surgery.
To the matter at hand -- ibuprofen will help you heal faster, so why not use it? I can think of few reasons why a person would want to extend their recovery period.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:14 AM on August 12, 2011
....Technology has not quite gotten to the point that a web site can perform surgery.
To the matter at hand -- ibuprofen will help you heal faster, so why not use it? I can think of few reasons why a person would want to extend their recovery period.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:14 AM on August 12, 2011
Naproxen (Aleve) + acetaminophen (Tylenol). You can take both together because they act in different ways. The dosages schedules work nicely together (naproxen every 12 hours, acetaminophen every 6). Don't take more than the recommended amount of acetaminophen and don't drink alcohol while taking it.
posted by kindall at 10:21 AM on August 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by kindall at 10:21 AM on August 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
BTW, naproxen is in the same family as ibuprofen, so don't take both of those together.
posted by kindall at 10:22 AM on August 12, 2011
posted by kindall at 10:22 AM on August 12, 2011
Tylenol/acetaminophen is not an anti-inflammatory and thus will have no impact on the swelling, so it doesn't make sense to take it unless you're also in a lot of pain. Otherwise, stick to ibuprofen/Advil. You need to take a higher dosage of ibuprofen to maximize its anti-inflammatory effects. Check the drug insert on the bottle for the safe dosing schedule.
posted by pecanpies at 10:31 AM on August 12, 2011
posted by pecanpies at 10:31 AM on August 12, 2011
Unless you have any other conditions that would respond poorly to ibuprofen, I can't think of a reason not to take it.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:45 AM on August 12, 2011
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:45 AM on August 12, 2011
Ibuprofen and ice are your friends here. do both regularly and dont even think about flex/stretch stuff until ALL swelling is completely gone and you can walk on it with no problem and then take it slooooooow!
posted by supermedusa at 10:56 AM on August 12, 2011
posted by supermedusa at 10:56 AM on August 12, 2011
I don't understand why you would not take ibuprofen?
Also, the bottle says take 400mg at a time (2 pills). You can easily take 800mg (4 pills) at a time with no ill effects. Whenever you go to the doctor and they prescribe, that is what they give you anyway. This is a for sure if you are over 180 lbs...
Ice is good too, they are both anti inflammatories, no sense in enduring unnecessary inflammation.
Good luck
posted by milqman at 12:47 PM on August 12, 2011
Also, the bottle says take 400mg at a time (2 pills). You can easily take 800mg (4 pills) at a time with no ill effects. Whenever you go to the doctor and they prescribe, that is what they give you anyway. This is a for sure if you are over 180 lbs...
Ice is good too, they are both anti inflammatories, no sense in enduring unnecessary inflammation.
Good luck
posted by milqman at 12:47 PM on August 12, 2011
I'd say don't flex it, don't ice it, and don't take the ibuprofen.
Don't flex it because you both stretched and weakened your connective tissue and you don't want to stretch it any further, and you don't want to damage other tissue that was not vulnerable before you stretched the tissues that were protecting them.
Don't ice it because the swelling is functioning as a cast to hold things in place as they heal, and because you don't want to slow down the cellular metabolic processes of healing.
Don't take ibuprofen because it's an anti-inflammatory, and inflammation is particularly important to repair collagen because collagen's not a cellular tissue (macrophages can lay down layers of collagen).
posted by jamjam at 1:01 PM on August 12, 2011
Don't flex it because you both stretched and weakened your connective tissue and you don't want to stretch it any further, and you don't want to damage other tissue that was not vulnerable before you stretched the tissues that were protecting them.
Don't ice it because the swelling is functioning as a cast to hold things in place as they heal, and because you don't want to slow down the cellular metabolic processes of healing.
Don't take ibuprofen because it's an anti-inflammatory, and inflammation is particularly important to repair collagen because collagen's not a cellular tissue (macrophages can lay down layers of collagen).
posted by jamjam at 1:01 PM on August 12, 2011
I don't see any problems with taking ibuprofen.
A lot of the advice also depends on how long ago the dislocation happened and if you have other signs and symptoms--my general advice is to definitely ice and elevate.
If the swelling isn't increasing keep up with the flexing/stretching/moving. Push yourself but not to the point where you feel pain. It'll help keep your range of motion by preventing fibrous build up, bring blood to the area to promote healing, and help your lymphatic system to drain.
If the swelling IS increasing and there's still a lot of redness and possibly heat then you need to rest it for sure and wrap it to prevent further swelling.
posted by simplethings at 1:08 PM on August 12, 2011
A lot of the advice also depends on how long ago the dislocation happened and if you have other signs and symptoms--my general advice is to definitely ice and elevate.
If the swelling isn't increasing keep up with the flexing/stretching/moving. Push yourself but not to the point where you feel pain. It'll help keep your range of motion by preventing fibrous build up, bring blood to the area to promote healing, and help your lymphatic system to drain.
If the swelling IS increasing and there's still a lot of redness and possibly heat then you need to rest it for sure and wrap it to prevent further swelling.
posted by simplethings at 1:08 PM on August 12, 2011
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Generally, when I do something like that, I've been told to keep up the nsaids (and icing and elevation) to prevent additional tissue damage. But your doctor may have a different opinion.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:25 AM on August 12, 2011 [1 favorite]