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Monday, July 25, 2011

Diagnosis of my sprain

Went to see a orthopaedist yesterday. The doctor is rather famous in our area.

He examined my foot by pressing at different areas to see if there was pain. He then took an x-ray of my foot to confirm that there was no bone fracture.

His diagnosis was that the inversion sprain has resulted in a stretch or tear of the ligaments. The doctor was very patient and showed me pictures of foot anatomy while explaining to me where the injury was. He told me that there are three grades to the severity of an ankle sprain. Grade 1 & 2 are just stretch or partial tear of the ligaments, while grade 3 is complete tear and would never fully recover unless undergoing surgery. X-ray will only display bone structure and not the ligaments, and only MRI can determine the severity of the sprain. However, this is normally only done on sportsmen who need to get back to their games quickly and not really necessary for layman like us.

I asked him that since i am still able to walk without much pain, then does it mean that it was not a grade 3 sprain? He said that it is indeed unlikely that there was a complete tear of the ligaments, but one should not rule it out completely. He said i am still able to walk because there is a tendon at our inner heel that can support our walking, and our normal body reaction would avoid the pain and place pressure on the inside of the foot when walking. I realised that is exactly what i am doing and hence i am limping.

He also told me that a lot of times, people associate pain with recovery; yet, a complete healing of the ligaments would take about 6 weeks even though we may not feel much pain after about 10 days or so. That was the misconception that many people have and resume to normal activities after about one or two weeks, when the sprain is actually still not fully recovered. That was why some patients never recovered properly and would suffer from side effects.

He prescribed a anti-inflammatory medicine and told me to continue the R.I.C.E treatment (which i did so when i was in KL) - Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. He said i should definitely reduce walking about and keep my leg elevated for most times. If i put my leg down for extended hours, the gravity will cause the sprained ankle to swell up. That was why we normally would find the swelling subsided when we wake up in the morning but get worse as we go through the day. He also recommended to continue using ice to reduce the swelling.

I then told him that i am flying to USA in economy class. He then shook his head and said that was gonna be very bad. He told me to somehow figure out how to keep my leg elevated during the flight, and also recommended me to buy a walking cast to protect my foot when i am walking around in LA.

The entire treatment (and a crash course on ankle ligaments sprain) cost RM500 and he gave me 14 days MC! I am gonna claim the amount from the company, and also wanna find out if i can make any insurance claim for it. As for the 14 days MC (which i really wonder if it is necessary since it doesn't seem to be that serious), i am contemplating about asking my boss if i can change my annual leave for the LA trip to MC instead. Then i'd save my annual leave. If i can really do that, then it will turn out to be a blessing in disguise!

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huh, like that also can. and why not, you should make that claim - who would be deliberately to inflict such dreadful injury oneself for the sake of a long vacation. unless the HR is really truly senseless evil department run by ppl like catbert, surely they don't have any reason to reject you. glad you did not need a plaster cast. and your new checklist should be updated with some protection items for your sprain lor. not sure if cooling spray (those aerosol spray used by athletes) would helpful in case you don't have access to ice. walking cast? hmm, never know of it until your blog. but doesn't that require plaster , make one leg longer than the other, and how it could avoid the foot from pressure. hmm, wonder if walking clutches actually be more effective for the recovery.

at the end, there's really nothing to upset about if you continue to be positive :). wishing you a speedy recovery and enjoy the coming grand holiday, of course be careful with your ankle too and avoid aggravating the sprain. wah, so fast it's already 2 days left only (and if there's any hiatus ..... ). cheers.

my ex-co got a few "funny" rules:-
1) MC is not recognised if you'd already apply for AL
2) no MC was allowed after long vacation/ public holiday.

awwww, that would be kind sort of injustice liao. wait, why don't cancel the leave and then quickly apply for MC .... ah, don't bother with my silly selfish idea, of course pinpin shouldn't have done that :).

1 more day, 1 more day! cheers.

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Saturday, July 23, 2011 @ 4:55 am: Update on the sprain
Thursday, July 21, 2011 @ 3:23 am: Sprained ankle
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 12:36 pm: Flight delayed
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 12:07 pm: At Senai Airport
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 4:29 am: Trivia of my uneventful days
Friday, July 15, 2011 @ 1:26 am: Another late night
Thursday, July 14, 2011 @ 4:39 am: Yellow
Thursday, July 14, 2011 @ 3:47 am: New look with bugs
Wednesday, July 13, 2011 @ 3:49 am: Stupid new dashboard
Sunday, July 10, 2011 @ 4:43 am: Back home in JB