ANKLE SPRAIN

BySicure

Definition

A sprained ankle is an injury that occurs when you roll, twist or turn your ankle in an awkward way. This can stretch or tear the tough bands of tissue (ligaments) that help hold your ankle bones together. Ligaments help stabilize joints, preventing excessive movement. A sprained ankle occurs when the ligaments are forced beyond their normal range of motion. Most sprained ankles involve injuries to the ligaments on the outer side of the ankle.

Cause

Your foot can twist unexpectedly during many different activities, such as:
  • Walking or exercising on an uneven surface
  • Falling down
  • Participating in sports that require cutting actions or rolling and twisting of the foot—such as trail running, basketball, tennis, football, and soccer
  • During sports activities, someone else may step on your foot while you are running, causing your foot to twist or roll to the side.
Treatment for a sprained ankle depends on the severity of the injury. Although self-care measures and over-the-counter pain medications may be all you need, a medical evaluation might be necessary to reveal how badly you’ve sprained your ankle and to determine the appropriate treatment.

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of a sprained ankle vary depending on the severity of the injury. They may include:
  • Pain, especially when you bear weight on the affected foot​
  • Tenderness when you touch the ankle​
  • Swelling, Bruising, Restricted range of motion, Instability in the ankle​

When to see a doctor

Call your doctor if you have pain and swelling in your ankle and you suspect a sprain. Self-care measures may be all you need, but talk to your doctor to discuss whether you should have your ankle evaluated. If signs and symptoms are severe, you may have significant damage to a ligament or a broken bone in your ankle or lower leg. After the examination, your doctor will determine the grade of your sprain to help develop a treatment plan. Sprains are graded based on how much damage has occurred to the ligaments.

Treatment

Almost all ankle sprains can be treated without surgery. Even a complete ligament tear can heal without surgical repair if immobilized appropriately. A three-phase program guides treatment for all ankle sprains—from mild to severe:
  • Phase 1 includes resting, protecting the ankle and reducing the swelling.
  • Phase 2 includes restoring range of motion, strength and flexibility.
  • Phase 3 includes maintenance exercises and the gradual return to activities that do not require turning or twisting the ankle. This will be followed later by being able to do activities that require sharp, sudden turns (cutting activities)—such as tennis, basketball, or football.
This three-phase treatment program may take just 2 weeks to complete for minor sprains or up to 6 to 12 weeks for more severe injuries.

Home Treatments

The RICE protocol. Follow the RICE protocol as soon as possible after your injury:
  • Rest your ankle by not walking on it.
  • Ice should be immediately applied to keep the swelling down. It can be used for 20 to 30 minutes, three or four times daily. Do not apply ice directly to your skin.
  • Compression dressings, bandages, or ace wraps will immobilize and support your injured ankle.
YES! Physiotherapists will assess the patient and identify how arthritis affects the individual patient. Together the patient and therapist will formulate a treatment plan and set goals to help manage pain improve mobility and fitness. Ankle sprain, knee sprain, back & joints program, rehabilitation programs have been specially designed to offer to the population in Qatar a new place to regain their health. The latest technologies and Hi-Tech equipment have been selected by our team to help your recovery safely and efficiently.
Muscle stimulator. It has been prepared for all indications that a frequent electrotherapy user could come across.
Electrical stimulation for muscular pain works by sending out its own electrical impulses. These charges seem to interrupt or block the pain signals, reducing the pain you feel. Electrotherapy uses electrical signals to interfere with the transmission of neural pain signals into the brain. It effectively slows down or distracts the message from the nerve to the brain.
In the early phases of foot and ankle rehabilitation, the Pilates method is an excellent therapeutic exercise to maintain overall strength and general conditioning while the foot and ankle are healing.
Exercises range from low-level to extremely advanced, challenging, sports-specific maneuvers.
The healing effect of cold temperatures has been known for centuries. Cold therapy is nowadays of great importance in physical therapy, sports medicine and also in rheumatology.
Areas of application are, for example, acute and chronically painful conditions of the musculoskeletal system, treatment of muscular trigger points in combination with stretching, support of the movement therapy through prior cooling and especially, with the whole-body cold chamber, inflammatory and degenerative rheumatic diseases as well as quicker recovery in competitive sports.
The Huber Motion Lab is the latest in technology to help evaluate and strengthen muscles around the spine and all over the body.
This kind of treatment can strengthen deep as well as superficial muscles, mobilize joints, improve body composition (lose weight), correct posture, sharpen coordination and balance.
Cross friction massage is applied to the injured ligaments during the acute phase, after about five days from when the ankle is sprained, this technique helps to speed healing and to prevent scar tissue from forming.
By massaging perpendicular to the ligament rather than along its length, you are helping break up scar tissue up and to realign collagen fibers, which in turn speeds up healing.
The weightlessness you feel when under water relieves tension in the limbs, supporting aching muscles and easing the movement as opposed to when on land.
In addition, hydrotherapy stimulates the release of endorphins, acting as a natural pain reliever, which will further reduce muscle soreness.