Q&A for How to Fake an Ankle Sprain

To portray a sprained ankle or knee injury while acting, draw on the natural reaction you would likely exhibit at the sudden infliction of pain and discomfort. You want to begin with a slight, sharp wince or gasp immediately after the injury "occurs." Then grab that area and ensure your weight shifts so you do not place any pressure on it. For a sprained ankle, limp heavily, keeping much of your weight on your uninjured leg, and avoid putting your foot down flat. For a knee injury, try to avoid bending it too much, moving stiffly, or hobbling. Your facial expressions should show discomfort with every step, and you can occasionally grimace or breathe sharply to emphasize the ongoing pain. Use different memories from pain earlier, such as having been injured or in pain. To make the pain look more real and natural, you can pull from your past memories of how it feels to have been injured or in pain.

You can wrap the desired spot for 2-5 minuets tightly, but do not overdo it. Afterwards, hit the spot hard enough to make it red but not enough to hurt yourself.

If you follow the steps in the article and you don't overdo it, she'll probably believe you. If she doesn't, there's not much you can do about that.

You could have fallen down the stairs, tripped over something, or hurt yourself playing soccer or another sport, or even just running around.

An X-ray can tell your doctor whether or not there is a break, but it won't tell them whether you have muscle or ligament damage.

An ACE bandage is an example of an elastic bandage. It's a bandage that's made from a stretchy material.

Yes. Most drug stores have crutches, or you could tell a friend that you hurt yourself and ask if you can borrow their crutches.

Yes. Just follow the same steps and you should get the same or reasonably close results.

Do not break something on purpose, this is very dangerous and you could potentially do serious damage to your body.

It's very unlikely you'd be able to fake an injury convincingly enough to fool a doctor.

Yes, you can. Just remember to make a fake bruise on your ankle and walk with a limp. If you don't walk with a limp, your teacher will know you are faking.

Most doctors don't just put on ace bandages, so if you're trying to fake a serious injury, use a boot. If you do decide to wear the bandage, wear it over your sock.

Do not attempt to actually sprain your own ankle. You could end up doing serious and permanent damage to your body.

Just tell your parents the truth and own up to it. You won't get away with lying to the doctor.

You can, but have a forged doctor's note on standby. Usually, a parent note isn't enough.

Cut the toes off a bunch of knee high white socks and wrap them in a colored or white elastic bandage.

Ask around, maybe a friend or family member has some crutches lying around their house from an old injury.

The bandage limits the motion of the ankle so that it can heal faster. To prevent swelling, doctors use an ice pack.

If you don’t have crutches, all you have to do is wrap it and just say that it is less severe.

No. X-rays can see bone and ligament damage. An ankle sprain is a soft tissue injury.

Yes. Be sure to wrap it loosely enough not to restrict circulation, which could cause actual damage.

You clearly do want attention! You appear jealous of your brother - you want what he's got. Try getting your parent's attention for something positive. Offer to help out more around the house while your brother is incapacitated to earn some praise and positive attention. Trying helping your brother, too.

You cheer your own success. Didn't you want to fake it and succeed anyway? But now you'll need to keep on faking for about 5-6 weeks.

Most drug stores or Wal-Marts sell them for reasonably cheap. You could also ask a friend if they have one you can borrow.

Pretend that you got hurt at school that day so you don't need a note. Then you only need to pretend in front of that teacher.

Tell your parents that you injured yourself and they will probably take you to the doctor.

It depends how long it was wrapped, and how tightly.

If you keep changing your story, and if you exaggerate too much, they might get suspicious. You also want to sacrifice a few things, such as a party, or fun activity, because then it will seem more real. Don't just try to get out of something you don't want to do - act like you can't do anything at all.

Use makeup to put a fake bruise on your ankle instead.

No; any medical professional will be able to quickly tell that your ankle isn't sprained.