How To Diagnose And Treat Ankle Injuries And Sprains

Ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries. Having had 2 ankle surgeries over the past 2 years (1 on each ankle) I've become expert on these types of injuries. An ankle sprain occurs when the ligaments of the ankle are stretched too far causing a partial or total tear. There are 3 different types of ankle sprains: eversions, inversions, and high ankle sprains. 90% of all sprains are inversion sprains. Inversion sprains occur when the foot bends inward causing an injury on the outside of the ankle. These sprain injuries are less serious because the outer ligaments and tendons support less weight than the inner ones do. Eversion sprains occur less frequently, but are more serious than inversions. In an eversion sprain, the foot bends outward causing an injury to the inside portion of the ankle. The inner ligaments and tendons of the ankle support more body weight and play more of a role in maintaining balance. High ankle sprains occur when the ligaments above the ankle join become injured. These sprains are far less common than the other 2.

Regardless of the type of sprain, the procedure for treating these injuries is the same. Sprain injuries cause inflammation to occur in the affected area(s). This results in swelling and pain. In order to decrease the swelling, you need to follow the R.I.C.E. system. I'll briefly describe what each letter stands for.

R stands for rest. Obviously, you should try to stay off of your injured ankle. Realistically, this is not always possible. In these cases, ankle braces and orthotics can be especially helpful. These devices aid in supporting and immobilizing the injured areas so that they can recover.

I stands for ice. After a sprain, you need to ice the ankle as soon as possible. Ice has its maximum impact during the first 48 hours proceeding the injury, so you need to ice as much as you can during this period. Icing early will reduced the amount of blood that empties into the ankle- thus reducing the swelling. The general rule is to ice 20 minutes on followed by 20 minutes off.

C stands for compression. To apply compression to your ankle you will need to use an ace wrap bandage. Ace wrap is basically an elastic roll of material that you can tightly wrap around your ankle. Ace wrap comes in many different styles. Personally, I prefer the ace wrap with the Velcro attachments, but you could try using the pin attached style as well. As for the wrapping itself, the goal is to apply pressure to the affected area(s). You might find it difficult at first, but after you've done it a few times it gets much easier. The idea behind compression, as with ice, is to reduce the blood flow to the site of the injury.

E stands for elevation. As with the other methods, the goal of elevation is to use the power of gravity to draw blood away from the injured area(s). When you elevate your ankle, be sure to raise it above your heart; to achieve the maximum benefit.

In addition to RICE, you should also consider taking NSAID(non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) pain relievers immediately following the injury. These medications are great for pain relief and they also reduce swelling. For NSAIDs, your best bets are ibuprofen or naproxen.

With any sort of ankle sprain, you also have to rule out more serious injuries. After a bad fall, you should really see your doctor and have x-rays taken to rule out a fracture or a completely torn ligament. Broken ankles and complete tears require total immobilization with crutches and a walking boot. Generally (but not always), the amount of pain and swelling mirrors the severity of the injury. If your ankle turns into a black and blue balloon, then you've probably torn a ligament or fractured a bone. In these cases you'll also want to follow RICE, but in addition you need to focus much more on rest and immobilization.

I hope you enjoyed this hub and learned a bit about how to treat these injuries. Thank you so much for reading!