I am sorry about your ankle, Demi, and hope that you make a fast recovery.

A physician's assistant recommended turmeric curcumin when I had a painful inflamed knee three years ago. The knee was better within a week, but I don't know what specifically helped. From what I've read, most curcumin that is ingested is actually destroyed by stomach acid before it can take action.

I had a broken toe earlier this year and Epsom's salts definitely helped. Magnesium helps with inflammation and the muscles, and is also good for nerve pain. So, it's a 3-pronged agent of relief. In addition to Epsom salt baths, magnesium creams or lotions are effective.

Magnesium is not a large molecule, but a small positive ion which does enter the bloodstream. The counter ion (negative ion) can be either chloride or sulfate; it doesn't matter in terms of the health effects. Even though my toe is long recovered, I still put magnesium cream on both feet each night. I've found that it is great for my neuropathic foot pain, plus it keeps me from having leg cramps at night. (I'm a diabetic and am probably magnesium deficient, like many diabetics are.) I usually use Seven Minerals Magnesium Cocoa Butter Cream (which contains magnesium chloride) because the cocoa butter softens calluses on my feet, but I also like Kirkman Magnesium Sulfate Cream, which does not seem as sticky as other magnesium creams and is closest in chemical structure to Epsom salt.