The most common injury to date is a sprain or rupture of the ankle ligaments. The most common case is a rupture of the peroneal-talus ligaments, which are located on the outside of the ankle. Typically, this injury is received when falling, tucking the foot inward. Quite often this happens in sports during various sports games. Immediately a severe swelling of the leg forms , subcutaneous hematoma develops. Because of this movement, a person becomes very limited, it hurts him to move around. Upon receipt of such an injury, it is necessary to immediately contact a traumatologist, and an x-ray should be taken to identify bone injuries.
There are varying degrees of damage to the ligament of the ankle joint. The first degree of damage is sprain. The second is the tear of the ankle ligaments. And the third, the most difficult, is a rupture of ligaments. The lowest level of damage involves damage to up to twenty-five percent of the fibers, the second to seventy-five percent, and the third is an absolute rupture of the ligaments.
Depending on the severity of the injury, a person may have different symptoms of an ankle ligament rupture. The first degree of severity involves mild swelling of the leg and a small subcutaneous hematoma. With the second degree of damage, severe edema, a large hematoma, poor foot mobility, difficulty walking are observed. The third degree is characterized by a complete inability to rest on the foot, instability of the ankle.
If you have damaged an ankle joint, you urgently need to contact a trauma center. Treating ankle ligament rupture involves simple procedures. The first days it is necessary to observe peace - lie more, walk only with a cane or crutches, and only around the house. If the patient has a third degree of damage, he needs to install a special ankle brace - a device that provides protection and unloading of the ankle. You should rest in a supine position, while the leg should lie on a small elevation (for example, on a pillow placed under it).
In order to reduce swelling and hematoma, use cold in the first days - lower your foot several times a day in a bucket filled with cold water and ice. Keep your foot in it for five to ten minutes, until you feel a slight numbness in the foot. You can also wrap the ice in a wet piece of cloth and hold it for fifteen to twenty minutes every time over the leg shin. The use of heat is contraindicated, since it will increase swelling and bleeding, as a result of which the injured place will hurt even more.
If you have an ankle ligament rupture , it is necessary to apply a pressure bandage on the leg, it is desirable that this is an elastic bandage. It must be wound in the form of the so-called “eight” - from toes to the lower leg. First, the bandage is wound with tension, then freely. A bandage is applied after a person has slept or rested in a supine position. It is then that the swelling decreases and a bandage can be applied.
When the day has passed after the injury, you should begin to rub a special ointment in the lower leg - for example, "Troxevasin." In order to reduce the hematoma that has arisen under the skin, in the place where the ankle ligaments are torn, you need to use the Traumeel gel, Fastum gel, voltaren ointment and so on. The ointment is rubbed into the leg for several minutes, a day, two to three times. This should be done extremely carefully, carefully, without flexing or rubbing the leg - this will badly affect the damaged ankle. At night, do a compress on the leg, using medical ointment or alcohol.
After a couple of days, when the edema practically disappears, and the pains become not so strong, you can begin to massage the lower leg. It should be carried out only in those areas that are close to the damage, and the place where the rupture of the ankle ligaments can be massaged only after a week.