Oh, the agony!

Can anyone please tell me how long it takes a sprained ankle to heal?

I have had only one other sprained ankle in my life and it happened when I was very young. I think we were playing Boys-Chase-Girls on the playground and to avoid getting caught, thus catching the Cooties (because in this game, if you are caught, the boy would kiss you...ewwww!) I was running like the wind and stepped into a hole. Ouch! I know it hurt, but being a bit younger in those days, I think I healed up rather quickly. I contribute my sprain-free life to the fact that I am double-jointed.

That is why I am so perplexed by my second spraining which occurred the first week of January! The sad part of it is that I sprained this ankle simply by standing up quickly from a chair and somehow twisting it. I felt a sharp shooting pain, then numbness and then the dull throbbing began. My ankle swelled up slightly but only for a day. By the looks of it, you would never know anything was wrong. But now, two months later, I still feel the soreness. I took some healing time off from my usual activities before exercising or hiking again. Even now, I wear my Ace ankle brace and high top hiking boots for support when I go on my hikes. I can't even tell anything is wrong when my ankle is supported like that, but when it's not supported, I have to really watch the way I move it or else it will throb again.

Is this old age? I certainly don't feel that old. I actually feel younger and more energetic than I ever have in my life (besides when I played Boys-Chase-Girls on the playground in 1st grade). I just hope that this isn't a sign of things yet to come in my older years! Help! I need a body to keep up with my youthful spirit!

Still, I think the worst part is answering the question, "How did you hurt your ankle?" And knowing that they, knowing me, are expecting a crazy answer like, "Oh, I was hiking in Montana when all of the sudden this Grizzly started chasing me and I had to jump off this really high bluff to get away!" and then I mumble, "I stood up." A puzzled look and then another question to clarify, "You did what?" I look down at the ground and say in a rather annoyed tone, "I just stood up from my chair." I try to quickly add tidbits about how it's not as bad as the time I twisted my knee in the Red River Gorge or how lucky I was to not have sprained an ankle when I slipped on a rock climbing by a waterfall in the Ozarks. Realizing my ramblings about other bodily harm to myself caused by myself are backfiring in making me look "cooler" and are, instead, making me seem rather clumsy, I stop talking. Then in my most humbling tone I say, "Yes, I just stood up."

Oh the shame! I can't look myself in the eye.