Did I sprain my ankle inwards by accident?

December 20, 2023 8:00 PM

I’m on the plane currently. When I was in the jetway, I stepped on a thin, hard-to-see “ramp” thing without knowing it, and stepped down, but my ankle kind of turned a teeny bit inwards, probably enough to feel it. It didn’t hurt initially and was definitely not a sprain, but I’m on the plane now and my foot hurts. Probably psychological, but still — YANMD but do you think I have anything to worry about?

I’m very wary because I sprained this same ankle a few times, so wanted to make sure. I think my foot is just tired after walking all over the airport, but it does hurt a bit.

I didn’t feel any pop or tearing. This was inward-facing—eversion style, but again, it didn’t happen fast at all—I was able to land on my feet like normal and didn’t sprain it, because I didn’t land on the ankle, but just worried because my foot hurts. Not majorly hurting, just sore. However, again, this could also be psychological or my anxiety speaking. No swelling but this happened like 15 minutes ago.

On mobile so can’t use IMGUR to upload a photo of the ramp; but it was super thin and hard to notice. I don’t know if this post makes much sense, but figured I’d ask.

YANMD.

posted by thoughtful_analyst to Health & Fitness (11 answers total)

It's possible to irritate/insult/tweak muscles and tendons enough that they cause pain without being a true sprain.

Is there swelling? (you are on a plane, which can cause some swelling, so check for swelling versus the uninjured ankle)

Can you weightbear on that ankle?

Is there pain when you weightbear?

How bad is the pain?

If the flight staff can give you ice or a cold pack to put on the ankle, that can help reduce swelling.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 8:30 PM on December 20, 2023 [3 favorites]

I’ve sprained my ankle multiple times and also had similar muscle twinge from slight over extension, not a sprain but threatening to become one if I over extend it again. So, just step carefully for the next little while and just monitor it.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 9:31 PM on December 20, 2023 [2 favorites]

High sprains and mild sprains don't always swell. You have pain so I'd treat it, just in case. Start the RICE protocol now. If you turn out to be fine, you've what— wasted a bag of ice? But if it is a true sprain, you'll cut your recovery time by addressing it asap!
posted by lloquat at 9:31 PM on December 20, 2023 [3 favorites]

Topical Arnicare (AKA “Arnicare”) works wonders on muscle injuries and pain. Highly recommended. Feel better, don’t worry, and enjoy your travels!
posted by Lylo at 10:25 PM on December 20, 2023

What part of your ankle or foot hurts specifically? It could be a few things. And have you been carrying a lot of weight/heavy suitcases/backpacks so far in your journey or when that happened? Feel the various parts of your ankle and foot if you can—is there anywhere specific that has a bump or nodule, or that is particularly tender, at this point? Take a photo of your ankle and foot now to compare to later, so you have a sense of whether they swell more (though the flight itself might make it swell, as folks have noted). That's some stuff to consider now, when you don't know for sure how it's going to feel later.
posted by limeonaire at 5:40 AM on December 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

If you have some nsaids on you, take some. It may swell extra with the overuse and pressure changes and cramped seating.

The problem with ankles is that once you damage the infrastructure, it's vulnerable for reinjury for a long long time/forever once you're middle-aged. So "worry about" is relative: no, you won't die from this. But yeah, it might screw up your trip, and you absolutely want to try to get some reinforcement on it - brace, ace bandage, KT tape, a high-rise hiking-type shoe - if you're going to be walking around.

But also, if it hurts really bad, and keeps hurting even after you rest, get it looked at. I've had 2 friends break ankles while traveling in the past month.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:13 AM on December 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

This kind of thing has happened to me a lot. Just take some Ibuprofen or Naproxen to reduce pain and inflammation, and be careful with your ankle over the next few days. It will likely be back to normal within a day or two. If the pain gets worse, or it's still hurting after 5+ days, might be worth getting a doctor to take a look.
posted by mekily at 8:49 AM on December 21, 2023

I would guess this is just your anxiety, but that's probably even harder to diagnose over the internet than a sprained ankle.
posted by grog at 9:16 AM on December 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Hi! Wanted to update. Flight was delayed, but made it home. Pain went away, hasn't came back so far, no swelling, no bruising. Let's hope it continues that way! Probably was anxiety after all, and probably a bit of irritation from the ankle being "bent" that way, especially a rare kind of bend. That, plus an awful lot of walking.

For those who's curious, here's the "ledge" in question.

Hopefully this won't become an issue!
posted by thoughtful_analyst at 10:00 AM on December 21, 2023 [3 favorites]

It sounds like you've already pretty much resolved this, but I just wanted to say that it is apparently very rare to sprain your ankle inwards without also breaking one of the bones. (And in this case I mean sprain in the medical sense of injuring the ligaments.) That doesn't mean that it might not hurt, but it's just much rarer - vast majority of sprains happened from turning it outward. The inward sprain also tends to require a lot more force.

(I looked into this b/c I have in fact sprained my ankle inwards, but it happened when I was running down stairs and sort of lost my footing and ended up vaulting over the last couple stairs and landed on my left ankle and twisted it inward. I didn't break anything, but I also have a condition that makes my joints hypermobile so I tend to get weird/unusual injuries. Like I partially dislocated my hip doing stuff around the house level of unusual.)

IANAD, just wanted to hopefully put your mind further at ease that an inward ankle sprain is one of those things where if you do sprain it, you would 100% know. Sounds like you just sort of irritated it a bit. Still doesn't hurt to be careful with it, and ice it if you do start to have more issues with it.
posted by litera scripta manet at 10:31 AM on December 21, 2023 [1 favorite]

I've noticed that you were asking whether people thought you'd sprained your ankle, but everyone was giving you advice for how to treat your ankle. I think this may be because it's generally good advice for any kind of injury - whether it truly is a proper strain, or whether it's just a little overexertion. Hell, it's how I treated my ankle when I'd BROKEN it - I thought it was just a really bad sprain, and didn't find out it was a break for two whole days - and it turned out to have been the right approach.

So in future I think that adopting the attitude that "well, when in doubt, I'll rest it and put ice on it, because it'll help no matter what it is" is a wise approach, instead of tying yourself in knots trying to figure out "is it really a sprain or is it something less serious?" If it's a sprain, rest and ice will help, and if it's NOT a sprain, rest and ice will still help. So skip straight to the rest and ice.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:15 PM on December 21, 2023 [3 favorites]