I have a friend who�s daughter fell off the monkey bars and hurt her foot. The school nurse said it didn�t seem broke but recommended to goto the doctors. My friends daughter is around 6 and her ankle hurts and she cannot walk on it. She want�s to take her to the doctors however her husband refuses to take her unless it swells up. They do have medical insurance, he simple wont take her. I offered to take off work and drive down to take her, however she doesn�t think that�s a good idea because of her husband.
Can anyone give me any medical advice on sprained ankles vs broken bones? I am kind of under the impression that a sprained ankle will swell more then a broken one. Any links to supporting medical advice as well would be helpful and hopefully she can prove to him that she should go to the doctors.

Soft tissue damage usually hurts worse than an actual break. You might buy your friend a tube of arnica gel. Arniflora is one good brand and then there are a lot of others at your local health food store.Suggest to your friend that she keep the tube on hand and also some of the homeopathic remedy as well.

The father is being abusive and neglectful by not getting the child looked at and this worries me more than the actual injury. Your friend needs to talk some compassion into him, but if not successful, seek some counseling.

The injury might actually be a structural one that involves the head & neck. If so then the ankle will never feel "right" even when the pain goes. Your friend can call the web site www.pettibonsystem.com and get the "800" phone number to find a practicioner in her area.

I learned this the hard way with my own son-not by neglect but ignorance. With the proper treatment and getting the head aligned on the spine correctly the injury will heal.

You need to be sure that the child has full range of motion of the joint even if it hurts. If it is broken she will not be able to rotate her ankle or extend her foot. Also make sure she can wiggle all her toes and curl them under. If she can do all this it is likely that it is not broken.

Warmly,
Arrow