Sprained ankle a month ago, next steps

Hi everyone,

I sprained my ankle playing football a month ago. The first week and a half I used crutches intermittently, iced it, rested it and compressed it. Now I am walking on it more than I have been pain free but there is no way of going back to exercising as the flexibility in the ankle joint is poor and I still get a lot of pain if I am on my feet for too long or if I go into a squat position for example. I can provide pictures if that would help? The bruising was very bad initially and now it is just still very swollen. I have had an x ray to rule out any fractures, doctors were pretty useless, just said rest and ibuprofen for a week which I did and no change.

I had a friend who is a trainee osteopath check it out and she thinks that it has a lot of scar tissue around the joint, (it is on the lateral side, but there is also a small amount of swelling and pain on the medial side) and advised me to see a physio to get some friction massage to try and break down the scar tissue. I have been lots of stretches and balancing on the injured leg to try and get some of the flexibility back and strengthen my ligament. I normally weight train 5 x a week and haven't done so in a month now. It is really beginning to frustrate me! I have also had to take time off work as I'm a bartender and am meant to be going back in a week but nothing has really changed i.e. it still hurts.

Basically I would like to know:
a)should I be putting weight through the previously injured ankle?
b)is it worth going to the physio or should I just wait it out?
c) is the physio the best person to go to or should I consider a sports massage/massage therapist?

any help is appreciated :)

Thanks in advance

Rob

The bruising you experienced from your injury was bleeding from soft tissue damage. That could be muscle, tendon, or ligaments or a mixed bag. Bad sprains take awhile to heal. The stiffness is most likely edema as your body is trying to heal the damage. Bad sprains can sometimes take longer to heal. You could have stretched or tore ligamens. Your ROM will return. Feet don't respond like shoulders or knees.
WB in a protected manner is good for you. For a short time a brace that restricts side to side movement when you are on your feet alot may help.Stretching is good but don't push through pain. Work repetitively to the limit and just a little more. You don't want to create more inflammation/swelling.
In my opinion a physiotherapist will be much better for you than a massage therapist for many reasons I won't go into. Massage therapists are very good for many things so don't get me wrong.
From what you say , you are progressing . That wait period is hard on athletes or active people. I want it better yesterday. Been there, unfortunately too often. Bad sprains can have swelling for months