What would you do if the doctor told you that they couldn't tell if you sprained or fractured your ankle?

What did it sound like when it happened? If there was a loud pop or a cracking noise you probably fractured your ankle. However, if the swelling and pain hasn't gone away in a week, I would go to another doctor and get a more qualified doctor's opinion.

You didn't give your age...but in younger people (under 16)...fractures don't always show up on x-ray at first because the bones are still so malleable and regenerate very quickly...which is why they usually do is a follow up x-ray in 7-10 days to see if there are any signs of callus formation (healing)...which means it IS broken and they will then treat it as a break rather than a sprain.

For now...just keep doing what you're doing.

I badly sprained my ankle about 3 weeks ago. I was in a hurry going down the stairs, lost my balance and landed on a bad side of my left foot, causing my left ankle to be stretched going on the inside. The first 48 hours were excruciating and the pain was un-believable. I've never had a serious ankle injury before.

So I immediately treated it using the RICE method. The following day, the bruising and swelling were so horrible. I found out that I got a second degree sprain and immediately panicked after that. I had a football game on that week and it been looking forward to it because I've been training for rt. I had teammates that had similar injuries and it took them months to fully recover, some of them stopped playing altogether. So I kinda had a short-term depression because I can't imagine myself not being able to run and play sports anymore.

Because I was so desperate to recover again, I contacted a lot of people that I know who do sports and asked them if they had similar injuries. One friend of mine, from the boy's football team in my university, told me about H.E.M. Ankle Rehab. I got a copy 4 days after I got injured. I immediately read and followed what was instructed and felt improvement on the first day. I was able to walk a bit, but I was in pain.

A couple of days after that, the swelling and bruising were subsid-ing significantly and on the fourth day, I was walking comfortably again. Although I've had felt a bit of stiffness, I continued doing what was instructed. My sister was surprised that I have recovered this fast. I told her about this book and was shocked on how effective the procedures were. I'm just so happy that this book was shared to me and how effective it is.

Heal your ankle fully & fast?

You should go to a different doctor and get a 2nd opinion. If they can't tell if it's a fracture or a sprain, they should probably treat it as a fracture to prevent any future problems. I thought i just sprained my ankle 15 years ago and did not have it treated. And now I still have occasional pain in that ankle as an adult.

I agree that you should keep doing what you're doing and get a 2nd opinion. I think an x-ray is in order especially if you've been nursing it and the swelling hasn't gone down at all. Why a fracture wouldn't show up someone your age doesn't make much sense to me unless you're a descendant of Superwoman and have lightning fast healing powers. If you've been going to a general practitioner, maybe try a specialist this time.

xrays do not always tell. A friend of mine needed an MRI to find a break in her foot and it had been xrayed several times. My son also got a break while skiing. Cray didn't show anything, a week later xray didn't show anything but the next week you could plainly see the line where it was starting to heal. It had however been treated as a break the entire time. Break was down through the ball on the end of the bone rather than across the bone.

I'd go back and ask them to x-ray again. A sprain should have started to improve by now.

a sprain should have reduced the swelling some by now.

if they couldn't tell, even with x-rays, i would probably go to another doc.

Go to a foot doctor and have them x-ray it.

In the meantime just keep doing what you are doing and stay off it.

Xray, or new Doctor!