Taking the long sleeve off too early?

I pulled a muscle. It’s nothing serious—not a tear or a sprain, just a strain...

My leg was hurting so much I went in for some imaging, and they ended up putting me in a splint. I can move around a bit, but there's some swelling because I'm not keeping it elevated enough...

They told me to stay in this thing for another six days, but honestly, I’d rather just take it off. What am I looking at here? Does anyone know if there are any "side effects" to ignoring the doctor?

Anyone been through this? Can't it just heal on its own without the splint?...

analoglynx said:I just pulled a muscle... so it's nothing serious. It wasn't a tear or a sprain, just a strain..

My leg was hurting so bad I went in for scans and they put me in a splint.. now I'm walking around in this thing and my leg is getting a bit swollen because I'm not keeping it elevated enough..

They want me to wear this splint for another 6 days but I honestly just want to rip it off. What’s the worst that could happen?.. Does anyone know if there are any "side effects" to taking it off early?

Anyone been through this?.. Can't it just heal on its own? Without the damn splint?

Yeah, just take it off then... go out and try to jog a little... not too much though... maybe a mile or two....

This forum is a joke... honestly, just ban me already, I don't care... I've realized that whenever I ask a legitimate question, nobody actually has an answer. People just enjoy bickering with each other. No one knows anything anymore...

And the worst part is how some mindless threads from a decade ago are still being dragged out today...

I can already see you all typing that I'm just jealous because my own posts don't get this much attention. Go ahead, keep typing... it's not like you have anything else to offer. It's all just off-topic noise...

When I'm frustrated and ask someone for help because I need to cancel a subscription early, nobody has a clue what they're talking about...

Out of 96,974 members, not one person knew the answer to this thread... except for one guy who didn't say anything intelligent anyway... though thanks for the provocative response regardless...

🙄 🙄 😕

analoglynx said:I just pulled a muscle... so nothing serious... it wasn't a tear or a sprain, just a strain..

My leg was hurting so much that I went in to get imaging done, and they put me in a brace.. I'm walking a little bit in the brace, and my leg is slightly swollen.. mostly because I'm not keeping it elevated..

They want me to wear this brace for another 6 days, but I’d really love to take it off. What's the worst that could happen?.. Does anyone know what kind of "side effects" there even are?

Anyone have experience with this?.. Can't it just heal on its own? Without the brace?

Look, I'll tell you about my experience...
I took my brace off after three days because it was getting way too hot,
and it was itching like crazy...
( I had strained a tendon above my heel while jogging 😁 )
but man, it hurt like hell when I took it off. I couldn't even stand on it,
let alone take a step...
So, I ended up using an Ace bandage whenever I needed to walk...
And I wore that for a long time, maybe 3 or 4 weeks.
You're the only one who can really judge when you're ready to ditch it.
For me, that tendon popped out again during some clumsy movement a month later,
just when I thought I was totally "over it" and already back to walking normally...
After that, I wore the wrap for another month
just because it made me feel more secure when moving 🙄

It's your call.
Besides, you didn't mention exactly where this "muscle" strain is located... and that's the most important part.

Good luck to you. 🙂

Honestly, you might just end up dragging out your recovery if you aren't careful, so maybe just hang in there for a few days instead.
So, I wear a prosthetic on my right leg—below the knee amputation—and then last year, I went and sprained my left ankle during a workout. My doctor put me in a cast and told me I needed to stay off it for, like, two weeks. I thought I was being tough and made it through ten days, but man, walking around on crutches while managing the prosthetic was just exhausting. So, I started walking with the cast on, but then I ended up taking it off because, well, it looked pretty ugly. I ended up rushing straight back to the orthopedic clinic to get a new cast because I immediately sprained the ankle again—this time by leaning on it the wrong way. Needless to say, I learned my lesson and actually listened to the doctors the second time around.

I’ve decided I'm not going to download it after all... thanks to you guys... 😁

I can hang in there for a few more days... appreciate the input... 😍

I hope this is the right place to ask. About four days ago, I went and twisted my ankle—and naturally, it swelled up like a damn watermelon. They put me in one of those walking boots to keep everything stable. Well, I decided to trim the edges of the boot today because it was squeezing me far too tight, and what do I find? My entire foot is just... massive. Completely swollen. Is that actually normal? What am I looking at here—is it blood, or that lymphatic fluid, or whatever that healing liquid is called? To make matters worse, I haven't really been keeping my leg elevated like the doctors told me to. What kind of trouble am I inviting by not keeping it propped up?

It’s always fascinating to see people ignore their doctor's orders only to turn around and act completely panicked about the consequences.

Well, you’re experiencing exactly what happens when advice is ignored. The splint is there specifically to force you to stay still, and the instruction to keep your leg elevated? That’s to prevent swelling so the cast doesn't start chafing against your skin.
Just go lie down, prop your leg up on some pillows, and apply some ice. Try to be as calm as they advised and please, stop making things harder than they need to be.

Your leg isn't going to fall off, but you are unnecessarily complicating your life and dragging out your recovery process.

On another note, if your toes start turning blue, get yourself to the ER immediately so they can widen the splint; discoloration can be a sign that your circulation has been cut off.
Those odd colors you're seeing are just bruising—essentially just a nasty hematoma. It’ll take a week or two for that to clear up as the blood and fluid break down.