Sometimes there’s nothing more painful than a sprained ankle. When you have an injury to the ligaments in the ankle, it can make you limp while you walk, and send shooting pains up your leg. Ankle sprains are unfortunately a really common injury. If you play sports, go to the gym or you simply walk down the road and happen to bend your ankle as you go, you can expect to sprain your ankle at least once.
It can be very painful, and the severe sprains out there can require months of recovery. You have to learn how to wrap Achilles tendonitis with kinesiology tape if that plays a part in your ankle recovery. If you damage the entire foot, you may need the help of a surgeon to help you to get back on your feet, quite literally. With this in mind, here’s what our guest author says you should do after you sprain your ankle.
Photo by Kindel Media:
- Start with first aid. You need a temporary bandage to support the joint and prevent it from moving, and anybody who has sprained an ankle should expect to receive first aid. You should avoid putting any weight on the ankle itself because you don’t want to increase the risk of other injuries. You will notice your ankle start to swell, and the best thing to do here is to elevate it in a comfortable sitting position to reduce the swelling and draw the blood away from the area. Once you’ve seen the doctor, you can move on to the next step.
- Medicine. There are not very many medications that can help you with a sprained ankle, but non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug drugs like ibuprofen can really help. They’ll help to alleviate the pain and the swelling and if you pair this with a temporary brace or a tight bandage to support the joint, you’ll be able to reduce the pain immensely. Your doctor might give you some crutches to use to help you with balance and mobility while you allow your ankle to get the rest that it needs to recover. It can be very difficult to diagnose an ankle sprain based on symptoms though, which is why you have to see a doctor.
- Follow the rice method. No, we’re not telling you to go and get some rice to eat, but you do need to consider rest, ice, compression and elevation. That’s why we talk about sitting down and putting your foot up above your knee so that you can bring the blood away from the ankle. If you pair that with the compression sock and some ice, you’ll be able to recover your ankle much faster than you think.
- Keep stretching. When you have an injury to the ankle, it puts your nearby muscles and other foot structures at risk of further damage. If those tissues are weak because you haven’t used it, that can also contribute to your pain. Where you can, you need to continue to try to stretch the ankle. Stretching keeps the muscles strong and limber and it will help everything to circulate in that area. This encourages further healing.
- Physical therapy. If your sprained ankle doesn’t heal quickly or you have a limited range of motion, it can be an excellent idea to look into physical therapy. Physical therapy can help you build strength and aid your recovery so you can get back to normal. Not everyone with a sprained ankle will need physical therapy; however, for more severe sprains, it can be helpful.
Protect Yourself Financially
While yes a sprained ankle is common, just because it’s common doesn’t mean it’s not a big deal. Depending on where you got your sprained ankle, such as work, you might be entitled to get a workers’ compensation lawyer to help you out. But of course, if you didn’t get this injury at work, such as through exercise, then you’ll still need to find a way to protect yourself financially while you’re out of work for a few days (medical bills included). In general, when it comes to recovering from an injury, they can be costly, which is why you need to make sure that you’re not stressed and, financially speaking, you’re safe.