I broke my ankle on the 4th of July, so still healing. My foot was VERY swelled. To the point I could hardly see my toes. The bruise ran along the bottom of my foot and up my leg. The bone I broke was the outside leg bone that goes into your ankle, the fibula. Without insurance what I would tell you to do is get a brace for your ankle like at Wal-Mart. I would say that the ones that lace up would be easier to put on. But put it up and ice it down for at least 48 hours. When you put it up make sure it's above your heart. So lay down and stick it on a big pile of pillows. But you need a brace or at least to wrap it. That helps with the swelling to go down. If it's just sprained the swelling should go down in a few days and you should be able to walk on it without much pain within a week. ( sprained my ankle last year and broke it this year ) If it's broke and the bones aren't displaced ( moved around ) the bone should heal OK, but will take a few months. Mine still swells and it's been close to 7 weeks now since I bone it. The only way to tell for sure if it's broke is an x-ray. I would say rest it and keep it up. Take some Ibuprofen for the swelling and pain. When I broke my ankle it knocked me down with pain. I got very sick from the pain that shot through me. I would say that if you didn't get it fixed, yeah arthritis well set in. Might break it worse if you try and do stuff with it to fast. Do you have a doctor you see? If you feel you have to go might set up a payment plan with them. When I went to the doc without insurance they had a different pay rate for ppl without insurance. Might try the health department and if they don't see ppl for regular visits, they might be able to tell you who to see. See how it is monday. If it's not better or the pain just gets to much, ya need to see a doctor.

Lisa

P.S. If ya lived close I have some crutches and an aircast