# How painful is a sprained ankle? And what has turned out to be more painful than you expected? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732 "2011-05-22T00:42:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/81 "2012-03-15T22:36:00Z")
As to the second part of the question: A broken rib is far more painful than I imagined it would be or should be. Not the initial break, but the 3 or so weeks thereafter. Every little movement, including shallow breathing, hurts like hell. The single worst pain I’ve ever experienced is a migraine headache. I’ve only had two in my life (knock on wood) and I swear if I’d had a pistol handy either time I’d have killed myself. I considered other forms of suicide, but was too incapacitated to carry them out. The pain was worse than a mouthful of toothaches and getting kicked in the testicles combined. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/82 "2012-03-16T02:43:59Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > Ouch, **Bruj**! Hope you heal quickly and completely. Hang in there! > > So, since this thread has bounced back after almost a year, I’m curious enough to ask: have you bounced back, **overlyverbose**? Thanks for asking! For the most part, all is well, though I still can’t run as easily as I used to and I’ll occasionally get some sharp pain if I turn it incorrectly (sharper than I used to, that is). My guess is that this is as good as it’ll get, but it could be worse. **Bruj** , I hope all went well at Urgent Care. How’s it feeling now? ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/83 "2012-03-16T06:39:39Z")
One thing that turned out to be way more painful than I would have expected is a headache from a sinus infection. I had one once that felt like a nail was being pressed into my sinuses. It wasn’t the sharpest pain I’d ever experienced (that would be the time I blew out the ACL in my right knee), but it was excruciating in that it wouldn’t relent and was very intense. I couldn’t sleep or concentrate on any tasks for a couple days; legal painkillers did nothing. I didn’t try any illegal kinds. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/84 "2012-03-16T20:28:26Z")
Sprained my ankle a mile into a hike. Didn’t think it was bad so I sat there seeing if the pain would go away. After about 20 minutes of sitting, it started swelling up I couldn’t really put any pressure on it. Fortunately, my friend had some vicoden with him and I limped back to my car numbed and with a smile on my face. It was extremely painful. I think I wrapped it, iced it and took some ibu profin for a week before the swelling started going down. It took about a month for me to feel comfortable going to places that required walking on uneven terrain. And probably another month after that for it to get to 100% (the swelling had gone but I had lost a lot of strength in that ankle). ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/85 "2012-03-16T20:49:07Z")
I sprained my ankle years ago playing basketball. I was convinced it was a bad one. I went to the hospital and had it looked at and I was diagnosed with a level 1 sprain. “Aha!” I thought, “the MOST severe.” There’s apparently three levels… with three being the most severe. So, I was a wus. That said, my ankle wasn’t pain-free for about a year. Right not, I have tendonitis in the elbow (tennis elbow) and it’s a bitch. Not super-painful, but it’s lasted WEEKS. And it’s still limiting the use of arm with no end in sight. I can’t see it being better for months. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/86 "2012-03-16T20:56:26Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Oddly enough, the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced with a cut on my finger. Granted, it was a big cut that took off a [little bit of the tip and some fingernail](http://i.imgur.com/pdlEf.jpg) (WARNING: Kinda gross,) and it wasn’t the cut itself that hurt as much as the next morning did when I have to remove the gauze and wash the wound. Holy mother… Oh my god. That hurts just looking at it. I once stubbed my pinky toe so badly I think I broke it. It hurt so much, I actually passed out. A pinky toe. Really. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/87 "2012-03-16T21:13:53Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > What hurt more than I expected? Kidney stones. Holy hell. Healthcare professionals will use a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is very minimal pain, and 10 is “the worst pain you’ve ever had”. My kidney stones went to 11. :eek: Doubly so for me (a 22?), as, for some reason, the pain radiated into one of my testicles. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/88 "2012-03-17T04:06:02Z")
> [@goldmund](#): > > Worst pain ever, though, was a couple bone marrow biopsies. It’s over after a couple minutes, though, and was just a dull ache for a couple days afterwards. The pain while it’s happening, though, I couldn’t even begin to describe. They numb up the skin and flesh, but you can’t anesthetize the bone. I just had a discussion with my mom about this sort of pain this week. She said it wasn’t the worst pain she ever felt, but one unlike any other. Then she told me that if I ever match for someone who needs a bone marrow transplant, I should definitely take the drug method (PBSCT) option if possible even if it makes you feel sick for a week. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/89 "2012-03-17T20:45:14Z")
I’ve had multiple sprained ankles - 2 of them were severe. It’s awful. More painful than a gall bladder attack but not as unbearable as labor. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/90 "2012-03-17T20:49:28Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I once stubbed my pinky toe so badly I think I broke it. It hurt so much, I actually passed out. A pinky toe. Really. Seriously. _How_ is this advantageous to the survival of our species? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/91 "2012-03-17T21:29:44Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Seriously. _How_ is this advantageous to the survival of our species? Having a pretty crummy day today and this made me laugh out loud. Consider that your good work for today! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/92 "2012-03-19T00:05:24Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Seriously. _How_ is this advantageous to the survival of our species? Pain response is _extremely_ variable. Under high stress conditions like combat or an accident, you can fail to notice significant injuries until after the crisis is over. In one of the fights I’ve had, I didn’t realize the inside of my forearm had been cut by the knife the guy had until afterwards, when the blood was dripping down my hand. Sometimes the most minor injuries are the ones that advertise themselves so strongly, because there’s no life-threatening stress to ramp up your sympathetic nervous responses. Skipping the posturing and going right to the violence can sometimes quickly end a fight that could have turned into a nasty brawl, just because everything hurts a hell of a lot more when you’re not expecting it. A guy who could fight through a broken nose in a boxing match might not be all that interested in anything more than puking from the pain if you surprise him. On the flip side, whacking your shin on a table in the dark can hurt badly enough to make you nauseous even if you didn’t hit it hard enough to bruise the next day. Pain is partially a state of mind. ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/93 "2012-03-19T00:49:30Z")
> [@Sleel](#): > > Pain response is _extremely_ variable. Under high stress conditions like combat or an accident, you can fail to notice significant injuries until after the crisis is over…Pain is partially a state of mind. Yes. I’ve never been in combat nor in a serious fight in my adult life. However, I spent years cooking in restaurants. In the flurry of activity in a busy dinner rush, I’ve burned myself and not even noticed it until I saw the blisters later. But if I burn myself(even slightly) during a calm moment, it hurts like hell! ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/94 "2012-03-19T13:35:41Z")
If you hurt your ankles, do get them checked out properly. Please? A friend of ours fell off a roof once and landed feet-first. They picked themselves up and self-assesed that nothing was broken and went back to work. Today, they get around in a wheelchair as both ankles were broken and thanks to macho “rub some dirt on it and walk it off” they healed badly. By the time they went to see a doctor, the shattered bones were already fusing into one immobile lump. As for me, the most surprisingly painful thing was having a crown cemented on. The dentist offered novocain, but I thought “it’s just glue. No drilling. How much of a wimp does he think I am?” Wow, that was a bad decision. Searing, extreme sharp pain filled my head for five minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/95 "2012-03-19T13:55:06Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > … > As for me, the most surprisingly painful thing was having a crown cemented on. The dentist offered novocain, but I thought “it’s just glue. No drilling. How much of a wimp does he think I am?” Wow, that was a bad decision. Searing, extreme sharp pain filled my head for five minutes. Every dentist I’ve had do a crown has thought they could get by without novocaine (for the later stage, cementing the replacement, not for the initial work). I’ve always insisted. The stuff doesn’t work _well_ on me, but it does enough for THAT stage. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2012, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/96 "2012-03-19T14:38:24Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I sprained mine playing tennis on a hard court. I turned to chase a lob and my foot just stayed stuck to the hot court and i rolled over it. I assumed it was sprained, went home and started to treat it. By that evening I was in agony and having to crawl around the flat so i went to the hospital for X-rays. When the doctor came out he said, “Bad luck.” > > “Broken?” > > “Oh no, sorry. It’s a severe sprain. A break would heal faster and better.” > > Turned out he was right. It took months to come good and has never really been the same since. due to the stretched ligaments. This is pretty close to my story too. I was out for a run and I rolled my ankle. I was about 2 blocks away from the hotel where I was staying; so I limped back. I told my daughter to run out and buy me an ace bandage. Before she was to her car I was in so much pain I thought I was going to pass out. I called her back, had her get a luggage cart and get me to the hospital. The doc said I had a Grade III sprain. [A Grade III sprain is the most severe; the ligament is torn and there is significant resulting instability.](http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f05/web3/shunt.html) He said it was severe enough that he could fix it with surgery. He gave me the pros and cons and said it was my my choice. He said the same thing about a broken ankle. That it would have healed faster and with less pain. Oh, and if I wasn’t clear from before. It hurt SO FRICKKIN BAD!!! But that’s ok, because I have pictures! [https://picasaweb.google.com/101817705789498489422/AnkleInjury](https://picasaweb.google.com/101817705789498489422/AnkleInjury) ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/97 "2012-03-20T10:01:24Z")
I’ve torn ligaments in both ankles (not at the same time, thankfully) and that was extremely painful, as a lot of people have noted. Several years later, one of them is still prone to buckling at inconvenient times, and leaves me feeling very unstable. However, the most painful thing I think I’ve ever experienced was a torn muscle in the wall of my chest, which I got by falling off my bicycle and basically swallow-diving into a slab of rock. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to cough, and most of all, it hurt like hell to sneeze. That was particularly bad because every time I started to sneeze, it would hurt so much my body just stopped halfway through. That meant, of course, that whatever was tickling my nose didn’t go away, so I had to sneeze again. Repeat ad painfulitem. Of course, I had only myself to blame, because I was trying to ride my bicycle downhill with my arms crossed and hands holding onto the opposite handlebar, but you live and learn, right? I was convinced it was possible! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732/98 "2012-03-20T10:15:14Z")
Stepping down from the sidewalk, the first time I managed to pinch a nerve while doing so. The years of pinching foot nerves when stepping down or getting out of bed were one of the lousiest physical parts of adolescence; it mostly stopped happening about 10 years after that first time. I couldn’t complain when that happened, I was busy hurting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-painful-is-a-sprained-ankle-and-what-has-turned-out-to-be-more-painful-than-you-expected/582732.md?page=4)