Ankle injury from basketball may not show up on X-rays. Here’s what you need to do
Q. I play basketball for my high school and I sprained my ankle about three months ago. The trainer said it was a bad sprain and I missed four weeks of basketball. X-rays showed nothing was broken. I returned to play but my ankle is still swollen and painful. How long until I can expect to be back to normal?
A: Ankle sprains usually occur when an athlete twists his or her ankle in an awkward manner. Most sprains involve a tearing of ligaments on the outside of the ankle. Ligaments connect bones together and if a significant tear occurs, the ankle can remain painful and unstable.
When a sprain is severe enough, a bone contusion or stress fracture can result that may not appear on routine X-rays and can add significant time to recovery. Since you have had three months of symptoms and are not getting better, I recommend you see an orthopedic surgeon or foot and ankle specialist.
In addition to the physical exam of the ankle, the doctor may order special X-rays testing the stability of the ankle called stress radiographs. An MRI scan may also be helpful to look for the degree of disruption of the ligaments and a stress fracture. The length of time to full recovery will depend upon the diagnosis.
Dr. Harlan Selesnick is team physician of the Miami Heat and director of Miami Sports Medicine Fellowship, Doctors Hospital.
