Breaking your ankle will heal up quicker that tearing all of your ligaments and tendons. It could take 6 month or longer, depending on how bad it is and how much you take care of it versus use it too much before it's ready.
You're injured, not diseased. Count that as a plus.
Do you elevate your feet whenever you are not walking? Put them above your heart when seated, if possible, for the swelling to abate some.
Changes in the barometric pressure can cause pain in a injury. Weather fronts moving into your area, for instance.
Two years ago, I was out in one of the pastures on our farm, chain-sawing a big oak limb that had fallen on the fence in a storm into smaller pieces to haul away. Everything was going fine until one of the pieces I was cutting off, fell and landed like a battering ram right on the top of the arch of my foot. It hit so hard, it knocked me to the ground and I lost consciousness for a few moments.
When I came to, the pain was so severe, I cried. It took me quite a while to get up off the ground and when I did, I couldn't put any weight on the foot without thinking I was going to pass out again. I obviously could not walk. My wife was out of town on a trip so I literally had to crawl a quarter of a mile back to the house. It took me almost an hour to make that short distance with so much pain. When I finally got there, I didn't come outside for four days. Nothing I did helped but soaking the foot in a bucket of ice and water.
The foot swelled to twice it's normal size and turned a god-awful ugly black, purple and blue color. Throbbed all the time. I couldn't sleep. It was so sensitive, just touching the foot was painful. I was, in short, a real mess.
My wife finally came home from her trip and she drove me to the VA to have it checked out. I thought for sure I had broken some bones. But the x-rays said differently. No breaks.
I asked my doctor how bad it was. She said it was severe trauma and that I was lucky to be alive. I asked, "How's that?" She said that if the three foot section of the 6" branch had hit me in the head instead of my foot, I'd be dead.
That was two years ago. it's only been in the last six months or so that I don't feel any pain in the foot. Except when the weather changes and the barometer drops. Then it seems to throb for a day or two.
Keep the foot iced when possible, elevated when you're not up and about and expect a long recovery. Like I said, tearing your ligament and tendons is much worse that a clean break. But eventually the foot will get better. Just don't rush it.
When I say I feel for you, I literally mean it. Good luck to you.
Thanks so much for the story! This is why I posted. Your ordeal was so bad that I’m ashamed of myself. LOL
I’m 64 but I’m extremely active and I’m only 120 pounds. It’s rare for me to sprain an ankle or anything else because of my leg strength. I ride a mountain bike on gravel/dirt trails in the mountains 20 miles at a time. My size is probably the main reason nothing was broken. My daughter has broken one foot three times and she said the time she tore ligaments with the break was worse that the other two breaks combined. I guess that’s why my doctor laughed when I was relieved it wasn’t broken. He laughed and said breaking it would have been better.