What should I do if an ankle sprain occurs?

On damage to the ankle joints of famous athletes

can often be heard in television coverage. Overtrained, injured and out of service for a long time. It turns out that this is a specific damage?

Unfortunately, sprain of the ankle joint can affect not only professional athletes. This is a fairly common household injury. You can tuck your leg by stumbling unsuccessfully on the street (women at high heels are at risk), during amateur sports, to which the majority are frivolous.

Symptoms of ankle sprain

Ankle bones: talus, fibular and tibial -

fix in the working position and fasten with the muscles of the peroneal and deltoid ligaments. If the foot takes an unnatural position, the ligaments are injured. The first thing that indicates an ankle sprain is symptoms (pain and swelling).

If the damage to the ligaments is serious, then this symptomatology can cause a shock condition.

Then, external edema of the leg in the ankle area joins the pain, a pronounced bruising may appear. Painful sensations continue, even if you don’t lean on your leg.

There are 3 degrees of sprain:

• With slight stretching of the 1st degree, the movement of the joint is limited slightly. Some fibers are torn in ligaments.
• The second, average degree of damage, characterizes a partial rupture of the fibers of the ligament tissue, the rotation of the foot is painful, but do it.
• The 3rd degree of stretching and damage in the full sense cannot be called. The ligament broke completely, the joint lost stability. Without medical intervention, sometimes surgical, it will be impossible to restore its function.

If an ankle sprain occurs, characteristic symptoms are manifested, it is simply necessary to seek medical help. Only after an X-ray, the doctor can tell with certainty whether it is a sprain or a fracture.

First aid

• First aid for ankle injury - a cold compress.
  
  But this does not mean that ice must be kept constantly. 20 minutes intermittently during the day after the injury.
• Then, limiting the load on the damaged limb and its fixation is required. It is advisable to do this with an elastic bandage. The bandage can be removed at night.
• To reduce edema after an injury that caused an ankle sprain, try to keep your leg horizontal. At night, you need to put a pillow under it.

No alcohol rubbing miraculous tinctures or warming procedures! This will stimulate blood flow in the surrounding tissue and increase swelling.

Therapy for ankle injury

In addition to the retaining bandage, or orthosis, retainer, which will have to wear

at least 3 weeks, with the elimination of ankle injury, drug therapy is used.

Your doctor may prescribe anti-inflammatory drugs that help reduce pain and relieve swelling, such as Ibuprofen, Ketorol, or other non-steroidal drugs.

Effectively relieve swelling and painful sensations present with such injuries as sprains of ankle joint, ointments and gel preparations of external action: Ketonal, Dolobene, Diclofenac and the like.

Prevention of ankle sprain

In order to prevent sprain of the ankle ligament, you need to:

• try to wear only comfortable shoes;
• closely monitor its condition, do not allow the heels to be washed on one side;
• control weight to prevent unnecessary stress on the joints;
• exercise regularly.

Exactly sports activities improve muscle mobility and the condition of joints, support them in working condition. And, of course, do not forget while walking, especially on uneven surfaces, to look carefully under your feet.