Why does my ankle crack all the time?

Please help! Is my ankle broken or cracked or is it just sprained?

• 7 days ago, I sprained my ankle (I was running with my friends and there was a ditch in the ground that I fell into and my foot bent inwards.) I didn't feel a pop or anything - All I felt was pain shooting through my whole foot and my ankle. I went to the nurses office at my school and put an ice pack on it. I had to walk home and when I got home, I was locked out. I had to walk/stand for like half an hour because I had to walk around the neighborhood and ask to use the phone to call my mom. It really hurt like crazy. It was really swollen (mostly around my ankle) and almost purple and it hurt so much I had to hop on one leg. My parents said it was only minor and they wouldn't let me see the doctors so I had no cast or ankle brace or crutches. They just wrapped my foot tightly in gauze. When it started to feel better, I could walk up and down the stairs but sometimes for no reason, sometimes when I step on it (gently - not stomping), pain shoots through my ankle again. I went to dance class and the same thing happened and I had to sit and watch and it throbs and gets kinda hot each time that happens. My mom takes chinese medicine and rubs my ankle REALLY hard. I would roll around crying each time (I would cry so hard I couldn't make a sound). I'm scared that if I had cracked a bone, she might have made it worse because after she rubbed it today, my bone started to hurt again and I had to wrap it in gauze again. My brother (who was to become a paramedic) told my mom not to rub it and he told me to just Deep Relief ice cold pain relief (penetrates deep for immediate muscle pain Relief and reduces inflammation better than ice) but all that did was almost numb my ankle for like half an hour. OH and I feel it throbbing - Should I be worried? Are you supposed to rub a sprained ankle that hard? Should I go see the doctors? Is a bone most likely cracked/broken or just sprained? And is it normal for my ankle to feel stiff and crack every time I move it? I can't move it in every direction with hurting again. I'm so sorry I am writing so much I just want to give you a lot of info so that it might be easier for you guys to help :) Thank you so much! I REALLY appreciate it. :) PS: I CAN walk and run on it but sometimes I still feel pain shooting out of my ankle for no reason. I can't jump, it hurts.

• Answer:

  Firstly, your mother really should stop rubbing your ankle, because the only pain that could help with is muscle pain, and this sounds like injury to bone or ligament. Applying force to a slight fracture without knowing what you're doing can make it worse. This sounds like my brother's injury - he jumped down a flight of stairs and landed badly, and we had to take him to hospital to confirm that he'd only sprained it badly, because he couldn't put weight on it without real pain and it had swollen so much. The area was extremely tender and he had to avoid putting too much weight on it until the swelling went down. You need to go to a hospital because while it's possible it will get better without you doing anything except resting it, you clearly lead an active life which would be severely compromised if this was anything worse. The fact that it's been seven days and you're still feeling after-effects makes me most concerned about the injury, since less-serious things would usually die down by now. There is no bad consequence of getting your ankle checked out by a doctor - if it's fine, that's good news and you can stop worrying; if it's bad news you can get it set/bandaged/whatever else may be necessary - and I would urge you to have it looked at as soon as possible.