Do I Need an X-ray of my Ankle?

At one point or another, most people will experience some type of a possible ankle injury during their lifetime. Whether you just twisted your ankle on the stairs, rolled it off of the sidewalk, or slammed it while you were playing your favorite sport, ankle injuries can hurt a lot.

Of course, depending on how serious the injury is, there are different ways to go about how you handle treating your injury. Maybe you just need to put an icepack on it for a little, or maybe you can just walk it off, but if you’re thinking, “is my foot broken?” you might need an X-ray.

In order to detect a fracture, or a broken bone, you will need to get an X-ray. However, this can be harder to determine than many people imagine. So, when you ask yourself, “do I need an X-ray?” there are certain things you should be looking for. Here are some tips to help you figure out whether you should get an x-ray –

At First Glance:

Unsurprisingly, there are some ankle injuries that are clearly serious enough for an x-ray and some that are a lot less obvious. So the first step in determining whether you need an x-ray or not will be to look at the ankle that is hurt and compare to the ankle that isn’t after it happens.

If there are significant differences, such as a deformed bone, or severe swelling and bruising, you will probably want to get an x-ray immediately. However, if there is no obvious deformity, and your ankle definitely hurts, it can be a lot more difficult to decide whether you need an x-ray.

Ottawa Ankle Rules:

Luckily, there are specific guidelines that medical professionals typically use to determine whether a patient will need an x-ray called the Ottawa Ankle Rules, and you can follow these guidelines to help you decide how serious you believe your ankle injury might be. So, here are the guidelines –

You will probably need to get an x-ray if:

1.     You experience a significant amount of pain on the outside of your foot where your little toe is, specifically around the fifth metatarsal as well as on top of your foot by the navicular bone, which is on the top of your foot close to where the heel is.

2.     You feel a lot of pain when you or someone else touches the back half of the malleolus, which is the ball looking thing on the side of your ankle, or six centimeters above and/or below the malleolus.

3.     Or, you experience extreme pain or the inability to walk four steps immediately after the injury and at the time of examination.

You can always use these guidelines to determine whether you will need an x-ray in the case that there is no obvious or significant deformity to the ankle soon after the injury occurs.

At the end of the day, if you are worried that you may have broken a bone in your ankle, then a trip to the doctors won’t hurt (unless, of course, you walk there). A doctor, or an orthopedic expert, can always give you educated advice on how to properly care for your injured ankle. 

By Russell McBurnie

7 Reasons You Might Need An X-Ray

For all of you out there this blog should be especially important to you. The summer gives all of us a little extra time to check off those projects we promised ourselves we would do. Before getting into full-out DIY diva mode and taking on potentially dangerous tasks though, you should first ask yourself “Is this a good idea?”

If the answer is yes, ask yourself, “Is this safe?” If you get a yes there you are good to go, and good luck. If any of these questions yielded a no, and you still felt inclined to accomplish “said task” and somehow managed to injure yourself or anyone else around you… read below and answer this final question, “Do I need an X-Ray?”

It’s not always easy to tell whether or not you need an x-ray, but there are a few situations that you may find yourself in this summer where there’s a pretty good chance you might. Here are seven situations that may be an indicator that you need to head to the doctor’s office for an x-ray:

1.     You’ve fallen and you can’t get up.

If you attempted to clean out the copious amounts of leaves summer showers left behind in the gutters on your roof, and the ladder failed you…you may need an x-ray.

2.     You missed that invisible step and fell flat on your face.

Whether you're simply leaving a store and didn't see the caution "Watch Your Step" sign or lost your footing while walking down the stairs, you might end up with a sprain. Don't worry, it happens to the best of us.

3.     You’ve got a Warriors fan and a Cavs fan under the same roof.

Basketball and hockey are both finishing up their seasons. If you live in a divided household, the race to the remote can be dangerous. You won, but your pinky is now twisted a strange direction.

4.     Your synchronized diving took a turn for the worse.

Let’s say while performing your latest diving trick into the pool, your finish had a different outcome than you’re used to. The pain has been consistent for three days now, and you’re pretty sure that it’s not just your pride.

5.      Your idea of fun and games end up being not so fun.

An intense game of beach kadima resulted in a loss of footing and perhaps a twisted ankle.

6.     Your dumbbells are out to get you.

While training for your beach bod in May you dropped a dumbbell on your toe. You managed to walk it off, but it’s now almost June and your toes seem to be doing something funky…looks like there won’t be any Baywatch in your future.

7.     Your toddler took your game of dice to a whole new level.

One second you’re sitting at the table rolling dice with your toddler, the next minute two dice has turned into one, and Tommy is giving you a devilish grin.

If any of these scenarios or something similar have happened to you this summer, its safe to say…you might need an x-Ray.

By Maren Burns