K so I just sprained my ankle, really badly, its really swollen and there is a mark where it looks bruised (yet there was no impact which is wierd).
What are the proper procedures to keep it healthy and heal fast?
My advice: Go to a hospital. That kind of healthcare is free in this country.
Be sure to ice it ASAP. When you do, wrap a cloth around the ice/ice-pack/bag of peas to stop your skin from freezing. Use anything from the freezer.
Matt_V did something like that a little while ago and he couldn’t ride for a little while. 
Oh no! I hope this doesn’t affect your travel plans.
RICE
Rest it
Ice it
Compress it (gently)
Elevate it
An X-ray would rule out a fracture but not torn ligaments. If it does not get better in a couple weeks something might be torn.
Hope you get well soon
Sorry to hear about your injury. It’s not unusual to see bruising in a bad sprain; that’s internal bleeding from the swelling.
The standard advice is Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation; keep it elevated above your heart, ice it (20 minutes on and 20 minutes off, as cold as you can stand, be careful not to get frostbite), compress it when you’re not icing it (Ace bandage), and stay off it.
If you can’t put any weight on it, you probably should see a doctor and get an x-ray to see if anything’s broken.
Good luck, hope it turns out well. I had a bad sprain hiking in late December one year, couldn’t put any weight on it for a week, but still managed to make it to Moab that year (just took it easy).
What has been said is pretty good.
Stay hydrated but dont drink too much water. Hopefully you wont have to navigate stairs to often.
Sprains can be very different, you have to let your body tell you whats going on, and you have to listen to it. If something causes you pain dont do that thing. After You have applied the rice tech for however long it takes, could be a day could be weeks, its best to get it moving as soon as possible. One you can stand on it without pain thats what you should be doing, slowly working walking and stretching back into your life. Just remember, while its healing if something caused pain dont do it.
I couldnt walk on mine for about a week and a half, almost 2.
It better not, I’m traveling whether I can ride or not.
I’m more worried about being able to work to afford traveling, I’ve booked all my flights, and that I can afford to pay for but I still have to pay for food and places to stay.
Fortunatly it was my left ankle, and I actualy found it easier to ride back home than to walk (probably better for it too).
Just a warning to people, seat pushes in the dark on ice with Five Ten shoes and Animal pedals is a bad combo. I hit a bump wheel twisted and flipped, the shoes held too tight on the pedals to come off nicely and what should have just been a rolled ankle was much worse.
The wierd thing is I finaly learned how to do proper crank flips today, and I got them really nicely. But I hurt myself on my way home from work, and I even took the bus that takes three times the amount of time but saves about ten minutes of walking…
Thanks for the help guys, I’ve wrapped a tensor bandage around it and I’m putting frozen pees in the tensor for 20 minute periods now.
My biggest question was do I wrap it first or ice it first, but I guess doing both at the same time is best.
Thanks again everyone for your support, if anyone has any tips for slightly more long term ways to help it heal, please let me know.
I can’t add anything, but from various joint injuries I can tell you that ICING IT is very important if you want it to heal quickly.
edit: ice it a few times a day for around 20 mins.
http://www.mckinley.uiuc.edu/Handouts/anklesprain/anklesprain.html
This was the best resource I found while sitting around immobilized. Hope it helps you as well.
depending how bad it is then icing for a few days like suggested (3 or so times a day), then after a few days do the same except using a heat bag or hot water bottle (once the swelling is going down). The heat treatment does make a big difference to just stopping the ice and doing nothing else. It helps keep the joint from stiffening up and makes it much more mobile. I have only just recovered from a severe ankle injury myself. It took me 1 month before I could ride properly again.
I’ve bust my ankle 3 times now, each taking 3 months to fully heal. In the short term RICE is the best policy. I found that physio and in particular ultrasound was particularly helpful in speeding my recovery. My physio gave me a load of exercises and stretches to ensure stregth was rebuilt and that joint movemenet was not lost because of the scar tissue.
Hey Nathan,
Take it easy, Uninam is not far away. You want to be able to make sure you stay in one piece before the tour (and preferably during the tour also 
)
What everyone said is good. Keep it elevated and rest it. The swelling is proabably worst in the first 24-48hrs, so ice and a compression bandage will help decrease that. It’s the swelling that causes pain.
If it’s really bruised or you’re tender around the malleoli (the bits of your ankle bones that stick out) you may want to get it Xrayed.
Ken
There was something bugging me about my earlier post.
I looked up the RICE acrimim in my first aid manual and it said
Rest
Immobilize
Cold
Elevate
It used to be Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate in the older manuals, not sure why they changed it.
it was recommending cold to be applied for 15 minutes every hour for 12-24 hours.
Bach Rescue Remedy, Traumeel and Arnica Gels, and positive thoughts on healing the affected area.
Rent some crutches from a pharmacy for a few days… It’ll suck, but keeping weight off helps a bunch… I’ve sprained both my ankles at different times uni’ing, and it took me quite a while to get healed… Mostly 'cause I didn’t see the doc when I should have 
(It’s free, but I’m lazy ;))