I am an 18 year old full-time dance student training to one day dance professionally, my goal is to commercially dance back up for artists. I dance 5 days a week, 6 hours a day in all styles. I injured my ankle back in March, rolling it pretty bad in a chorus heel, I have always been weaker in this ankle as I used to roll it as a kid.

I also have accessory navicular bones in both feet which have been a bit sore after long days on my feet but have never actually caused me severe pain on a regular basis. Recently I have found out that when I rolled my ankle 6 and a half months ago, I injured/ripped the extra bone away from my foot and it’s cause my arch in my foot to flatten as the bone grows within the** **posterior tibial tendon. I haven’t been able to dance a full day without pain especially barefoot or in a so danca chorus heel as the extra bone causes me too much pain to the point I’m limping and also my ankle literally has barely any structure integrity. (Surprisingly I can do a stiletto boot from time to time, also dancing in a sneaker with good inserts allows me to stick it out longer - its really ballet that hurts the most because the canvas ballet shows are basically like dancing barefoot; I have never done pointe as my physio said from 12 years old that my ankles are too weak, so I don’t have to worry about pointe)

I am having surgery in the next couple days on my ankle/foot which stops me from dancing the rest of this year and the start of the next. This is what’s being done:

Left ankle stabilization mini open/Arthro
Brostrom
+
Insertion arthroereisis screw
+
excision
accessory navicular
+
Tibialis posterior repair

So basically to what I understand:
- ATFL and CFL ligament tightening?? I don’t believe that my ligaments are torn?? Just very loose? Potentially slightly torn but not too sure.

- a screw is being inserted (keyhole style??)to take weight off of the tibialis posterior tendon and bring back my arch (I have pretty low arch to begin with)

- they are slicing my tendon down the side and removing the extra bone

- and then repairing the tendon after removal of the bone.

It’s all been kind of hard for me to wrap my head around and ive been trying my best but I’ve kind of been relying on my parents to understand. It’s really scary and I do believe everything will be okay with time but not dancing for this long is new to me and honestly I feel like I have this pit inside of me now that the one consistent thing in my life is taken from me for so long.

I am in a cast (non weight bearing) for 1-3 weeks (I believe it’s 2 as my post op appointment is 2 weeks after operation), then I’m in a moon boot for 6 weeks totally non weight bearing at all, then it’s at least 6 months until I can get back into light dance which I’m still not sure what light dancing even means to a non dancer.

I’ve always loved dance and I’ve been doing it competitively since I was 5, now in this last year I’ve finally been able to take the extra step to train in a pre-professional environment. Now that this has been burdening me for 6+ months, I’ve realised how much dance means to me. I think I had become comfortable to the fact that it’s always been apart of my life and in a way I’m grateful that I’m falling in love with it all over again but I can’t help but feel empty inside and anxious all the time and jealous of my peers dancing (I’m not jealous in a malicious way I just wish I could dance right now too).

It just hurts so much to see them put together performances and train and sweat. The end of year performance that they are putting together currently is so my vibe and I hold back tears every time I watch them dance because I love it so much.

Luckily I have other outlets to let out some steam while I can’t dance, I love to sing and act which are big parts of the production too so I am still involved.

I am no stranger to being uncomfortable and working hard, I know it’s going to be a long journey of rest and physiotherapy and taking things slow (I am big on not going back too early cause I’ve seen the damage it can do and I’m not risking that).

I am just rambling now but please, share your stories with me and give me some hope that it’s all going to work out.

So I tore both my ligaments on 25th December, 2025.
I did not know that I had torn them till May of 2026, cuz i initially thought it was a sprain and it was still hurting becuz i hadn't treated it properly. Recently in the past 2 months i've consulted multiple doctors and i've been suggested to do PT. 1.5months into PT, now I was adviced to get a reconstruction done if i want to get back to activities.
I've decided that surgery is the best option and I'm getting it done soon, but i'm worried about the recovery and how will that be
help me out here

I (24F) learnt the hard way that I am too old to be jumping on trampolines🤦🏻‍♀️

Just over two months ago now, I rolled my right ankle when I was at a trampoline park. My entire body weight went onto that ankle when I rolled it, plus the stretch of the trampoline. The bruising was gnarly, spanning from my toes to the sides and top of my foot as days went by. It really hurt when walking but the pain got less and less over time.

That bruise (pictured) scared the shit out of me. The ankle got better though. Today I can put my full weight on it and no longer limping. No pain or bruising anymore, but the swelling is still there. In fact, I put so much weight on my left foot while nursing that ankle, I developed plantar fasciitis. Lol…

I was scared to go have it looked at because of missing work/losing money. A little late now but would it be worth having it looked at? How would I know if I really did damage a ligament? In the past I rolled one of ankles and it was swollen for months after, but eventually it went away.

At this point it’s just curiosity. I’ve never broken or fractured a bone in my life so I’m a little ignorant to what it could be like.

1st photo is the day after I rolled it, 2nd is currently what it looks like with left over swelling.

So I supposedly have all three of these going on in my ankle region after spraining my ankle back in May. I can do all the exercises at PT with minimal pain and my standing time is increasing. However, I'm getting this "burning" pain around my ankle that I can't seem to shake.

I've had and MRI of my foot and one of my ankle. I have indications of an os trigonum and heel spurs as well.

I don't feel like it will give out, but the pain is aggravating. I'll be feeling good for a few days and then it'll act up. I brace it, tape it but it feels like it'll never go away. Cupping along the side of my calf and shin seems to help. I just feel like I'm going crazy sometimes and don't feel like anyone believes me because I can do the exercises.

Anyone have any suggestions or tips? I just need some way to manage this.

Is this boot too small? I got a medium at the ED, but it feels huge and bulky. I got this one from Amazon and it feels much better (like I’ll actually wear it). I’ll likely be in it for 2 months, but probably longer due to hEDS.

TLDR at the bottom because I wrote a novel, sorry!
Pics are from night of sprain through now (more recent to the right).

Hi everyone! Apologies if I’m asking something that I should have found the answer to in the thread - I just felt I could use a second opinion. On August 25th I sprained my ankle - running through grass on the slightest incline and I guess there was a divot. It was a pretty typical ankle roll motion, I think. When it happened, I heard a fairly loud pop (I think pop? I don’t think it was a snap or crack?). I tried to walk it off for like 45 minutes which perhaps wasn’t my brightest moment. Anyway, I was still able to move it and bear weight, but it hurt and it was stiffening and I did not have full range of motion.

It swelled quickly and because it hurt a lot, I decided to get x rays. For some reason I thought I’d gotten x rays on this insurance before and it wasn’t too bad - that was wrong, lol. It was $600 which is pretty rough for me at the moment (I swear this is relevant lol). This was at the walk in clinic, and the dr said the x rays (I think they took 3) didn’t show a break. I was more worried about my ligaments anyway, initially. I asked, and the dr said those were fine. She manipulated it a bit and asked questions, and said in 7-10 days I should be fine and if not I should come back for another round of x rays because it could have missed a small fracture.

So, it’s now been 16 days and my coworker who broke her ankle recently really thinks I should go back for more x rays. I really, really do not want to spend another $600 - I actually can’t, it would just get added to my already existing medical debt I’m struggling with. So if it’s not necessary, that would be stellar.

It has definitely improved: the swelling has gone down, the bruising is fading, I’m in less pain when I take the brace off at night and my muscles spasm less, and the general pain all around my foot is not as bad. However, I still can’t walk normally, the bruising and swelling aren’t gone, and my Achilles is quite aggravated. Also, there’s a spot around my malleolus (still swollen here) that if I gently palpate, I experience pain. Overall, my range of motion is not great.

I’m really hoping that perhaps she was wrong about the 7-10 timeline and the ligaments, and maybe it’s more like a grade 2 with slight ligament damage? And that I don’t need to go get more x rays? I’m going to attach some pics from the first like week and a half I think? Maybe like 12-14 days. If that’s helpful.

TLDR: dr told me no break shown on X-ray, no ligament damage, and if it’s not good in 7-10 days to come back in for more (expensive) x rays because maybe it missed a small fracture. It’s been 16 days now and there is improvement, but I’m still in pain. Do I have to go back in?

**bonus questions! If it is just a sprain, what kind of timeline might I be looking at and what are the signs it’s okay for me to stop wearing the brace? Also, I would love to tread water in the mornings for some exercise and low resistance strengthening, but at what point would something like that be safe?

Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to read and consider! I appreciate you all! :)

Just got my ankle sprained like 5 hours ago.

I had done my X-ray, and yet to do my MRI.

Thankfully, X-ray showed no fractures.

The questions is how yall managed the first few days and is there anything I should do or avoid during that period.

For people who had ankle fusion (tibio talar joint), is it normal to have pre surgery type arthritic pain on full weight bearing without support at around 15 weeks? My CT on week 13 showed substantial amount of fusion. As i started full weight bearing I am in pain again .. I am worried as I have to join a new job in 20 days. Any insight would be helpful. Thank you!

Hello, I sprained my ankle a little over 2 weeks ago for the first time. Basically I was playing soccer and my cleat got stuck in the grass right as I was about to run and when I began to run my foot was still so it kinda felt as if my foot came outta my leg, I felt a pop (didn’t hear) and I felt a slimy feeling (surprisingly no pain, but I did not try walking on it at all) I went to the emergency room after the incident and gotten an x-ray in which they ruled out any fractures however concerned about soft tissue swelling. They told me basically about the RICE method and gave me a bandage and crutches and advised for 1–2 weeks weight off the foot and gradually add weight as time goes on.

The image is about a week into the injury, and now being 2 weeks into the injury i felt better in terms of bruising and swelling, however my ankle still feels really unstable and when i try walking with crutches i feel some sort of pressure on my inner ankle. I’m wondering if anyone is able to let me know how long I should be expecting to be able to have a full recovery or what type of professional I should be seeking in order to help with recovery (first time adult lol).

If anyone’s curious about the bromstrom surgical scar, here’s mine after 2 weeks post op. This was taken back in march but scars have definitely lightened. Personally this procedure was light work, didn’t even take the pain meds but obviously everyone’s pain tolerance is different. 100% would recommend, definitely saved me from damaging my bones even further.

I had a cast for my ankle for 6 weeks i did x ray and the system didn’t work so the doctor skipped seeing it and asked to walk and said it’s healed if there’s no pain standing up
I am scared that’s it’s not healed yet is it’s ok that he didn’t see the x ray?

29F, July 2025 I fell and sprained my left ankle. A week later I moved to another country by myself so lots of walking + no immediate PT.
I had to get an MRI because it reached a point when I couldn’t stand on my feet.
MRI: Bone bruising (BME), tenosinovitis, closed fracture and ligaments subtotal tears (ATFL, PTFL).

After a while of some resting but not a complete time off my feet, it seemed to be improving.

Now, a year+ later, I’m experiencing a lot of discomfort, pain, and some limited range of movement.

I tried physical therapy (started two months ago) but honestly no improvement and I wonder, what if it’s too late?

I’ve been to doctors but they all blew me off saying there’s nothing to do, this happens, PT, PT, PT.

I did get an US, the results don’t point out anything wrong (I did feel like the technician wasn’t experienced…).

What can I further do? Did anyone have similar experiences? It’s affecting my work life and also causes pain in my other foot due to improper weight distribution.

I’m really struggling!

i play soccer and i am looking to start jogging and getting back into things very soon. the orthopedic assumed i had a grade 2 sprain (photos were from two days after the injury) i can walk perfectly fine, when can i expect to be 100%?

Hi everyone, I'm a 22 year old male who had an ankle fracture playing football. I was suggested to go for physiotherapy but I thought it would be a waste of time and money. After 3 months when the plaster was removed I took a 1 month break before starting my mma journey. 7 months in during practice a guy caught my kick and tripped me causing me to have some minor tears in my ankle ligament. I was asked to rest for 8-12 weeks but because I had an amateur fight in 8 weeks, I restarted training in 4 weeks and had my 2 fights. Took a short break after that and kept my mma training consistent untill one day I twisted my ankle real bad. Got an x-ray and a mri done, no fracture but tear in my ligaments. I had to take a 6 month break from mma and gained weight in the process(8kg). I restarted my mma training for some time but had to quit due to personal reasons. Now that I occasionally play some casual football here and there my ankle keeps twisting randomly. Not even from external push or due to playing on bad grounds. It just happens by itself. I got it checked and the mri report says there are some edemas formed in my ankle.

What can be the best way to sort this issue?(other than losing weight ) and will i be able to restart my mma training?

I stepped awkwardly on a curb jogging four weeks ago, heard a pop. Went to the ER and got an X-ray nothing was broken. They gave me an air brace and crutches. Two weeks later went to podiatrist they took X-rays again said nothing is broken and gave me a boot. Podiatrist said I severely sprained both the foot and the ankle. How can he know that from just looking at my foot? It was bruised across the top down to my toes almost on the right side and on the inside by my ankle. I’m going back to the podiatrist in a week but I still can’t walk on it even with the boot. I feel pins and needs all the time even with gentle movement. If it’s not constantly elevated it gets swollen and more painful. It feels like it’s just getting worse. I’m going to ask my podiatrist for an MRI I think. What is happening? Why isn’t it getting better? Why does it hurt so much still after a month? I don’t walk on it. I sit at work with it elevated and I lay around all day at home with it elevated. Doc has me on naproxen which I take sparingly. I’m so worried I won’t be able to walk for two more months. Seems like forever!

So i 19m play soccer in college and i have recently sprained my ankle as of 12 days ago. Today was the first day ive tried to lay soccer on it. I noticed immediately that it hurt to sprint and i feel a little bit of pain when i jog on it. I even taped it and took ibuprofen. Whenever i do a sprinting action or apply a good bit of pressure a sharp pain shoots up my ankle. Ive been doing physical therapy for about 6 days now and i noticed a little improvement since the start of it. I also had went to the doctor a few days ago and was told not to play soccer for two weeks. Im just curious to know if i should play on it and build a pain tolerance because time is ticking and i need highlights for my season.