Would you get an xray for this?

[DLgal]

Ok, here's the situation. I went for a run on Christmas Day. Or, I should say, I attempted to go for a run. It had been raining and the sidewalk was slick. About 3 minutes into my run, I stepped on a pinecone (a small, hard closed one, about 3 inches long and oval shaped) and my left foot did a crazy wobble whereby I believe I rolled my ankle both inwards and outwards in quick succession. It happened so fast that I can't remember. I did not fall, thankfully, but I twisted my ankle up badly enough that the inside of my knee hurt and I had a moment where I could not bear weight because my ankle and knee were both feeling weak/strange. I sat down and called my husband to come get me in the car. I stayed off it most of the rest of the day and iced it, elevated, and put on a stabilizing ankle brace so it would not inadvertently move around too much. The pain wasn't too bad (not even enough to need OTC pain meds) but I had a tingling feeling in my whole foot the rest of the day (which started immediately after it happened).

Yesterday, it was feeling better. No bruising. No swelling. I kept the brace on but was able to be on my feet. I started to notice that the areas of pain became more localized and less diffuse. I began getting an ache about an inch above the ankle bone on the inside of my leg. The ache is sharp, but comes and goes. I also have pain around the outside of my heel between the ankle bone there and the back of my heel. I also have some forefoot pain, but that feels more like soreness. The most pressing is the pain above my inner ankle bone. Weirdly, if I lift my toes and put all my weight on my heels, I feel the pain worse in that area above my ankle bone.

I can move my foot around but if I turn my foot inward , I get a sharp pain right at my inner ankle bone. My foot is still tingly, but the tingling is localized to the areas where there is pain.

Would you go in for a foot x ray series to rule out a fracture?

Part of me thinks I should. The other part of me is like "you can walk on it, it's fine."

What would you do?

 

[kymom99]

Sounds like soft tissue injury. I probably wouldn’t have it x-rayed myself.

 

[Lisa_lvspplmvr]

Better to be safe and not injure yourself any more than you have already . You would probably tell someone else to get an X-ray . You deserve that care too

 

[ronandannette]

If I injured myself and was in on-going pain I'd report to the nearest urgent care facility and let them decide if it warranted an x-ray. Don't you need a doctor to order, and then read one anyway? Do you have walk-in, self-referred x-ray labs in the States?

 

[VandVsmama]

Yeah I’d get an X-ray.

 

[leebee]

I'd go get it looked at, simply because it has been hurting for a few days.
(From another thread, I hope your sister and her family are doing OK. I have covid right now, it's not fun.)

 

[DLgal]

If I injured myself and was in on-going pain I'd report to the nearest urgent care facility and let them decide if it warranted an x-ray. Don't you need a doctor to order, and then read one anyway? Do you have walk-in, self-referred x-ray labs in the States?

We have urgent care and they ALWAYS do x rays and have them read immediately. So, I know if I go there, an x ray will be done. It's a matter of, do I feel like it's necessary (it's my mom who is in my ear insisting that I NEED to get an x ray).

 

[DLgal]

Sounds like soft tissue injury. I probably wouldn’t have it x-rayed myself.

That's my thinking as well, but I have never had tingling like this with a twisted ankle (I do it all the time) and when I Googled it, it said that usually indicates a fracture. It also said anytime there is pain within 6cm of the ankle bone protrusion, a x ray is always warranted. But then it says fractures are extremely painful and it's usually not possible to walk normally. So I don't know what to think.

 

[DLgal]

I'd go get it looked at, simply because it has been hurting for a few days.
(From another thread, I hope your sister and her family are doing OK. I have covid right now, it's not fun.)

Thanks. I hope you feel better soon as well. Sounds miserable!

 

[brockash]

I'm not one to go in often, but yes in this case I'd surrender and get it looked at.

 

[DLgal]

I'm not one to go in often, but yes in this case I'd surrender and get it looked at.

Thanks for saying this. I'm not opposed to going in, but I do have a fear sometimes of coming off like the crazy hypochondriac type who goes in when nothing is really wrong.

On the other hand, if I go in prior to Jan 1, it will be completely free because we met our out of pocket max for the year, so there is a bit of urgency in deciding to go in this week or not. If I wait, I'm out $150 immediately. Gotta love that Jan 1 reset of deductibles.

 

[wenrob]

I know several people who have had fractured/broken feet/ankles and didn’t think so because it didn’t hurt that bad. I voted get an X-ray.

 

[ronandannette]

We have urgent care and they ALWAYS do x rays and have them read immediately. So, I know if I go there, an x ray will be done. It's a matter of, do I feel like it's necessary (it's my mom who is in my ear insisting that I NEED to get an x ray).

What's the downside? Why not go?

 

[cobright]

Would you go in for a foot x ray series to rule out a fracture?

Part of me thinks I should. The other part of me is like "you can walk on it, it's fine."

What would you do?

Hold a screwdriver by the bit end and thwart each of your toes right on the end of them, then do the same with your heel. This shock wave will travel along the bones of the foot and yield a sharp pain if it hits a broken one, letting you know roughly where the problem is.

It sounds like a bad sprain though, so I would watch for swelling and see how I feel in2 more days.

 

[cobright]

What's the downside? Why not go?

Hospital acquired infection, Covid exposure, potentially burdening a medical system unnecessarily…

 

[Nora03]

Years ago our older daughter hurt her thumb in a playground accident at school. We were called and we took her to the emergency room, where the doctor said it is very hard to break a thumb. Just let it heal. A week later it had not improved and we took her to our pediatrician, who asked what the X-ray showed. We told him that they didn’t take X-rays. He was furious. We went immediately to the Children’s Hospital where they took X-rays and it was fractured in two places. She needed a cast up to her elbow. They almost had to do surgery. Lesson learned. We were mad at ourselves for not insisting on X-rays in the first place.

 

[Skippy918]

Hospital acquired infection, Covid exposure, potentially burdening a medical system unnecessarily…

If you have an orthopedic urgent care, go there instead.

 

[martikus]

I would definitely have it checked. That was more than a basic tweak. And I’m taking Covid seriously and would still go.

 

[DLgal]

What's the downside? Why not go?

Just the inconvenience of it all. No other downside.

 

[DLgal]

If you have an orthopedic urgent care, go there instead.

Interesting. I've never heard of this but off to Google if that is an option near me. We have a TON of specialized medical care around here.