Dislocations of the ankle in popularity give way only to pain in the lumbar. The lower limbs are under a lot of stress, so they are injured very often. It happens like this: twisted a leg, ankle swollen . What to do, what to treat? We’ll talk about this.
Causes of injury
The main causes of injury:
- joint overload;
- excess weight;
- sudden movement, fall, blow;
- uncomfortable shoes;
- circulatory disturbance.
Some people believe that injuries occur in those who lead an active lifestyle, so they try to take care of themselves and do not play sports. Given the structural features of the lower extremities, limiting the load leads to muscle weakness, ligament contraction, and impaired blood flow. With atrophied muscles and short ligaments, body weight is transferred to the bones, joints are overloaded. In addition to protecting bone tissue and ensuring the function of movement, muscles affect blood circulation - contracting, they drive blood to the heart. To reduce, a load is needed, otherwise the blood stagnates, vascular diseases develop (varicose veins, thrombosis, varicocele).
Therefore, any household push, fall, jump, blow lead to dislocation. With a dislocation, the joint goes out of its normal position, ligaments are stretched due to rupture of microfibres, sometimes an extensive rupture occurs.
What to do with a dislocation
In the first minutes of a dislocation, a person may not feel pain, the joint came out, then fell into place and there is simply a feeling of awkwardness.
When I twisted my leg, my ankle was swollen - what should I do? If the ligaments are good, elastic, then for sure the gap will be minimal. As an aid, it is enough to reduce the load, remove shoes, give the foot peace. If possible, make ice. In the event of a small edema, it is necessary to ensure the fixation of the ankle with an elastic bandage. In no case should you heat the joint, otherwise inflammation will begin, pain will appear and more serious treatment will be required. The joint is restored within 2-4 days. At this time, gels with a cooling effect are applied to the injured area.
Serious damage
But there are more serious injuries, then there are several symptoms:
- pain when resting on a sore leg;
- pain during flexion-extension of the foot;
- joint stiffness - the foot does not crank or crank with difficulty;
- pain when touching the ankle;
- ankle swelling;
- hematoma;
- sometimes the temperature rises.
If it happened that she twisted her leg, her ankle was swollen , what to do, you need to know in advance. Immediately you should help yourself: sit down, take off your shoes, raise your leg. Just do not bend at the knee - the blood should circulate freely. Know that the time you spend restoring damaged ligaments depends on the actions in the first day.
What is forbidden to do after an injury
Unfortunately, she twisted her leg, her ankle was swollen. What can be done, and what is absolutely impossible? In this case it is forbidden:
- Pull, stab, beat and jerk your foot sharply in an attempt to put the joint in place. Small dislocations become major injuries when home chiropods try to help: they twist the foot, pull, pull. As a result, the number of torn fibers increases, the vessels that feed the joint are destroyed, tendons break, cartilages break, and cracks appear. As a rule, after a dislocation, the joint independently falls into place, therefore, it is not necessary to correct the situation.
- Apply a heating pad, take hot baths, go to the sauna, do compresses in the first two days. During an injury, blood vessels are destroyed along with ligaments. The liquid part of the blood spills, swelling and hematoma appear. The first 48 hours there is a process of restoration of blood circulation in the tissues. If you heat the foot, then the vessels will not be able to recover - the edema will grow, the inflammation will spread to a larger area.
- Fix the foot with an inelastic bandage. If the foot is fixed with materials that will not allow the muscles to contract, the vessels transmit, then the healing process will take a long time with complications.
- Do not diagnose yourself. What you call a dislocation may be a closed fracture. Therefore, contact the emergency room for diagnosis and treatment recommendations.
Actions in the first two days after an injury
She twisted her leg, her ankle was swollen - what can be done at home?
- Take off your shoes, raise your foot. No need to bend the knee.
- Apply ice to the joint area. Ice should be put in a bag and wrapped in a towel so that the foot is not cold. The task is to cool, not freeze.
- If it hurts, take an analgesic. If you feel the temperature rises, take an antipyretic.
- Drink weak green tea. Green tea copes with inflammation, has anesthetic and distracting effect.
- Apply ointment, gel or cream to relieve swelling and pain.
- Secure the foot with an elastic bandage. If there is no bandage, then you can temporarily fix the foot by wearing several pairs of socks.
- See a doctor. It is necessary to take a picture to exclude the presence of cracks, tears and fractures. The doctor will recommend drugs and actions by which treatment will be faster.
Funds available at the pharmacy
There was a nuisance: turned up a leg, swollen ankle - what can be done? Folk remedies, of course, can be treated, but it is better to consult a doctor. According to his recommendation, you can buy some drugs that will help relieve inflammation, swelling and anesthetize:
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that reduce swelling, relieve inflammation and pain: Ketonal, Fastum Gel, Naftalgin, Diclofenac;
- menthol-based coolants, camphor: Bengin, Troxevasin, Menthol ointment;
- to improve blood circulation, relieve inflammation, accelerate the regeneration processes and prevent the formation of blood clots: "Heparin", "Lyoton".
When contacting the emergency room, patients with dislocation are often advised to apply plaster. Gypsum fixes the ankle, eliminating the possibility of additional injury. Some doctors believe that gypsum is necessary, while others say that with a dislocation, you can do without a bandage, because the development of joint mobility in a gypsum is impossible. Several weeks in gypsum have a bad effect on muscles, ligaments and blood vessels.
Restore performance
She twisted her leg, her ankle was swollen. What to do, how to restore performance after an injury? After 2-3 days, the swelling subsides, the pain becomes less. Now you can do hot compresses, conduct physiotherapy.
It is very useful to apply warming ointments based on snake or bee venom. These ointments have a high penetrating ability, dilate blood vessels, improve blood circulation and blood supply: Apizatron, Viprosal, Virapin. As an alternative, ointments based on herbal ingredients are useful: Capsicam, Elacour.
It is necessary to return the mobility of the joint, begin to train, develop ligaments, performing exercises to develop the joint. Exercises should be performed daily, sitting on a chair, at a slow pace, without sudden movements.
- Pull the sock towards you, and then 1-2 minutes from yourself.
- Put your heels together and your socks apart. Tear off your heels from the floor and place on the floor again for a minute. Perform this exercise by putting the heels and socks together, and also putting the socks together and the heels apart.
- After doing the exercises, sit on the floor, straighten your knees and pull your socks towards yourself so that you can feel the calf muscle and hamstring stretching (it should be unpleasant). Keep your back straight. Perform exercise three sets of 30 seconds.
She twisted her leg, swollen ankle. What to do? The main thing is not to panic! Restoring a damaged joint, of course, is difficult, in some cases the process takes several months. But the success of treatment depends on the patient. Compliance with the doctor's recommendations, the use of ointments, physiotherapy, exercises to improve the elasticity of the ligaments and strengthen the muscles will quickly return the joint to normal.