rolled ankle--how to make it better FAST??

[Rock'n Robin]

Last night at my sister's house I stepped on a concrete ledge they have and fell down, "rolling" my ankle in the process. It isn't swolen or anything but it hurts.
DH says to just stay off of it--but my schedule includes spending the night out of town tonight to see a new baby (and packing for me and 3 kids), a football game tomorrow night (which I may cancel anyhow because the wind chill is supposed to be single digits!) and walking next to the church float in the parade Sunday afternoon since the girls are angels on the float.
And oh yeah, I GO TO DISNEY IN 6 DAYS!!
Short of clearing out my whole schedule and plopping down on my butt, anyone know how to make this better? Should I wrap it or something? I had ice on it for 2 sessions of 15 min. last night.
Robin M.

 

[Pam]

Robin,
You probably don't want to hear this - but - I twisted my ankle two months ago, did not stay off it - and it's still hurting! Mine did swell, though.

You need to keep it elevated and take shifts of icing and then applying heat to it. If at all possible, get off it now! Believe me, you will be thankful that you did so in the long run.

Pam

 

[browneyes]

Elevation, epson salt foot bath (hot water), wrap with an ace bandage, advil.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Wow, you are busy!!!!! Hope you can be off of it some in the days ahead. And hope to see you in the World in a few days.

 

[nativetxn]

Try to rest your ankle at least a little, RnR. It really hurts to roll on your ankle like that. Try to rest it some so that you can really enjoy the world when you get there.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I'm going to do my best--I wrapped it and have cut my errands in half--I'm cutting out going to the football game as well.
I also want you to know that I did not swear at all when this happened, out of deference to my very religious BIL who was with me when it happened--so I must be on the way to breaking that bad habit!
Robin M.

 

[WDW2002]

I am always rolling/twisting my ankle, nothing to bad but for me "walking it off" is the only thing that makes it stop hurting. I know it sounds weird but if I rest and elevated and all that it hurts longer.

So I walk back and forth or whatever and in 10 mins or so it stops hurting (for the most part)

 

[WebmasterAlex]

Remember RICE
Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation

When you sprain a joint there is bleeding into the joint. The more bleeding that occurs the longer it will take to heal. Everything you do for the first 48-72 hours should be directed towards reducing the bleeding. Ice will constrict the vessels and reduce the bleeding, heat will make it feel better for the moment but it will take longer to heal in the long run. Compression and elevation will also help reduce the bleeding.

 

[mamajoan]

NO HOT WATER!! *sorry browneyes
Hot water will increase the bloodflow therefore increase swelling increasing the healing time.

RICE as Alex suggested is the best solution.
48 hours AFTER the injury you can soak for 20 with epsom salts, then stretch your ankle muscles..