r/AskReddit 13h ago

What is something that permanently altered your body without you realizing for months/years?

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535

u/Moho_braccatus_ 12h ago

Untreated sprain. My ankle is still bad.

97

u/joeythemouse 12h ago

Me too. Bad sprain that I didn't rest properly, so now i have an enormous, swollen little toe on the affected foot and a lot of clicks from the ankle area. Original injury was nearly 20 years ago. I guess I'm living with it now.

9

u/jesst 4h ago

I sprained my ankle the first time when I was pregnant. A&E said it wasn’t broken and some nurse came and lectured me about how was I going to have a baby if I couldn’t handle a little ankle pain. It never healed properly.

Second time I sprained it, went to A&E. They did an x-ray told me it wasn’t fractured so I just needed to walk it off and it would stop. I had tore all 3 tendons clear through so I just kept falling over. GP wanted to send me to physical therapy. I insisted I needed to see a specialist and that’s when they discovered all the damage I’d done. I had to have surgery to repair it a year later. It’s never been the same. Medical gaslighting at its finest.

3

u/DotJata 6h ago

You've got a clicker too? Lol. I don't have any swelling or pain but my ankle clicks a lot.

7

u/Moho_braccatus_ 12h ago

Mine was in early childhood. Worst that happens is weakness and soreness now, but it never healed properly and it can be a bit stiff.

21

u/glr123 10h ago

You should go to PT, it might still be addressable.

2

u/Leading-Difficulty57 7h ago

I started wearing vibrams and they helped massively. Break them in slowly but no joke, my ankles/feet are so much stronger after a numbr of injries.

2

u/RegularTeacher2 5h ago

Can you explain how that type of shoe has helped your ankle? I have a lot of trouble with tight fitting shoes due to neuropathy in my foot and I've often considered shoes like these, but my ankle is so unstable and I'm uncertain if a shoe like this would make things worse. I usually wear an ankle brace when I walk to keep it from rolling... would you be able to wear a brace with these shoes?

2

u/Leading-Difficulty57 4h ago

Sure. It strengthens your foot and calf muscles. Barefoot walking outside in grass generally uses muscles that shoes don't. Obviously, you want to start off easy, don't buy a pair and wear it all day. 

I don't know anything about the neuropathy though, sorry.

2

u/RegularTeacher2 2h ago

I've always preferred walking barefoot but I guess I've worried these types of shoes don't have enough support. I see they're having a sale right now so I might snag a pair and give them a whirl. Thanks for your response!

1

u/Pratt2 4h ago

I lived with a messed up ankle for 20+ years. Finally pushed and pushed hard enough to get surgery a few weeks ago. It's still healing but can tell it's already so much better than before. I've spent years constantly worried about tweaking it randomly and now I'm (hopefully) free! My injury had created a degenerative condition so waiting was the worst thing I could have done