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A Sprained Ankle: Causes, Symptoms, Treatments, and Preventive Measures

Ankle Sprain: Overview

Your ankle works as a connecting point that connects your leg to your foot. This joint or ankle is made up of bones and three ligaments. These ligaments restrict the bones from moving out of their places. An ankle sprain usually happens one or more of these ligaments are torn or stretched. However, based on its severity, an ankle sprain is divided into three categories:

Grade 1 or Mild Sprain: It is the most common type of ankle sprain. This condition causes ligaments to stretch but not be torn. The condition may result in minor pain and stiffness. However, you can still walk with a mild or grade 1 sprain.

Grade 2 or Moderate Sprain: This condition causes one or more ligaments to be partially torn. Moderate or grade 2 sprain results in moderate pain and swelling around the ankles. You may feel it hard or difficult to stand and walk around.

Grade 3 or Severe Sprain: This is the condition resulting when one or more ligaments are completely torn. You may feel severe pain and instability around your ankles. The condition makes you unable to move your ankles.

Anke sprain symptoms

Whenever you feel any of the given symptoms, you may have developed an ankle sprain:

• Pain and tenderness
• Bruising
• Swelling
• Stiffness
• Numbness or coldness in your feet
• Inability to walk around
• The inability to put weight on your feet

The symptoms may be different according to your condition or the severity of the sprain. However, whenever you feel any symptoms, never ignore them as left untreated, minor symptoms may turn into chronic illness.  

What causes an ankle sprain?

The causes of developing ankle sprain may differ, but it usually happens during physical activities. Sometimes, it may result from walking or running on uneven or rough surfaces. It happens because unevenness of the surfaces can make you fall, land on your ankle awkwardly, and sprain it.

As well as this, people with high arches in their feet or weak ankle muscles are more likely to develop ankle sprains. People who have already suffered from an ankle sprain are more prone to develop it again.

Possible treatments for a sprained ankle

Before planning treatment for a sprained ankle, you need to know the exact cause and problems, helping you start treatment accordingly. For this purpose, we advise you to contact your GP or healthcare professional. They will perform physical checkups or other radiological tests to diagnose the problem. The RICE method (rest, ice, compression, and elevating the injured area) is considered the most effective treatment plan to get rid of the sprained ankle:

Rest:   All levels or grades of ankle sprains require enough rest. However, the length of time depends upon the severity of the sprain. Your GP can help you with the timeline. However, if it hurts you to put weight on your foot, you may use crutches.

Ice: Experts suggest ice massage after spraining your ankle as ice helps reduce swelling, pain, bruising, and muscle spasms. Putting ice on the ankle is helpful, but you must be careful. Try to place a thin or damp cloth before applying ice on the affected areas. It will assist you in protecting your skin from frostbite. Moreover, leaving ice on the skin for a long time can also cause damage to your nerves. Experts suggested applying ice for only 20 minutes at a time. It is advisable to apply ice therapy after every 2 to 4 hours for the first three days following an ankle sprain.

Compression: Compression can avoid swelling and bruising. The best way to provide compression to your ankle is to wear ankle supports, such as stretchable ankle support wrap for sprained ankles helps relieve pain resulting from a sprained ankle.

Elevation: elevating the injured area helps reduce bruising and prevent swelling from worsening. It is advisable to raise your ankle at or above heart level. Experts suggest elevating the injured area for 2 to 3 hours a day.

In some conditions, your healthcare professionals may also suggest you take over-the-counter medications to get instant relief from pain. You can take medicines recommended by your healthcare professionals.

How to prevent ankle sprain

As we discussed above, an ankle sprain usually occurs during physical activities. So, giving a little attention can give you a sprained-free experience during physical activities. The following are the possible preventive measures to help you get a safe or injury-free experience during physical or strenuous activities:

Body warm-up: Never forget to warm up your body before every physical activity. Warming up prepares you physically as well as mentally for your chosen activities. As well as this, warming up your body increases your heart rate and promotes blood flow, enabling more oxygen to reach your muscles.

Stretching or strengthening exercises: Stretching or strengthening exercises prepare your muscles for physical activities, improving your performance during athletic events.

Avoid uneven surfaces: Avoid running on uneven surfaces as running on such surfaces increases the chances of falling and straining your joints and muscles, leading to an ankle sprain.   

Wear ankle support braces: Wearing ankle braces helps keep your ankle joints aligned and prevents improper movements, decreasing the risk of ankle injuries.

Wear proper footwear: Youshould always wear appropriate footwear. Wearing improperly sized footwear or high-heeled shoes can irritate you during physical activities, leading to ankle injuries.

Buy the best ankle braces to avoid injuries

If you are an athletic person or involved in repetitive movements of your ankles or feet, you may know that you are at a higher risk of ankle injuries. However, wearing ankle support braces helps you avoid ankle sprain and other injuries. At the same time, healthcare professionals suggest wearing ankle support braces following an injury to promote recovery or healing. At 360 relief, we provide you with a variety of ankle support braces to help manage your ankle problems.

The post A Sprained Ankle: Causes, Symptoms, Treatments, and Preventive Measures first appeared on NAZING written by Olivia Bradley