HWN Suggests

The Hazards of Ankle Sprains

… Too often the injury is dismissed as “just a sprain,” with no specific treatment and a return to full activity before it has completely healed. Fully 45 percent of all athletic injuries are ankle sprains, and players often go back into the game with little or no treatment as soon as the pain subsides.

In fact, according to the International Ankle Consortium, a global group of researchers and clinicians who study ankle injuries, 55 percent of people who sprain an ankle never seek professional treatment in the aftermath of the injury.

Yet the majority of ankle sprains are doomed to recur. That’s because they often result in a chronically unstable joint that tends to “give…

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 Chronic Ankle Instability: What to Do When A Sprained Ankle Won’t Heal

Chronic Ankle Instability: What to Do When A Sprained Ankle Won’t Heal

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All it takes is a simple misstep, and suddenly you have a sprained ankle. An ankle sprain is one of the most common musculoskeletal injuries in people of all ages, athletes and couch potatoes alike.

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Contrary to popular belief, the high ankle sprain is not simply a more severe form of the inversion ankle sprain. Rather, this injury occurs when the foot is rolled outward, into eversion, at a high velocity, towards the outer aspect of the ankle. This usually occurs when someone or something falls on the outer aspect of your leg, causing your foot to roll outward.

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A New Twist on Ankle Pain

Having recently twisted my ankle during an afternoon sprint to the train station, I was disheartened to learn that my recovery strategy, which is to do nothing, is the wrong approach

A Sprained Ankle May Have Lifelong Consequences

Several new studies in people and animals, however, suggest that the effects of even a single sprained ankle could be more substantial and lingering than we have supposed, potentially altering how well and often someone moves, for life.

A Twisted Ankle Isn’t Just a Simple Sprain

“Most research is showing that with any ankle sprain, the ankle should be immediately immobilized to protect the joint and allow the injured ligaments to heal,” Dr. Hubbard said in an interview. “At least a week for the simplest sprain, 10 to 14 days for a moderate sprain and four to six weeks for more severe sprains.” Yet coaches, like most people, she said, “tend to think, ‘It’s just a sprain, you’ll be fine’ and they tape the ankle and ice it and the player is back on the field in a few days.”

After a Sprain, Don’t Just Walk It Off

Perhaps the most interesting finding in the new report is the fact that the most widely accepted treatment for an ankle sprain — rest, ice, compression and elevation, popularly called RICE — has yet to be shown to be effective in controlled clinical trials.

Ankle Sprains: New Remedies but Still Little Sympathy

Dr. Beynnon said many athletic coaches used to routinely tell players after a sprain to “just walk it off.’’ But, he said, “People who know the research on sprains don’t recommend that anymore.”

Common Ankle Injuries: How to Treat a Sprained Ankle

A single severe sprain or a history of ankle sprains may set the stage for other conditions, including osteoarthritis, later in life. Of course, not all ankle sprains will require professional treatment, and there are many at-home remedies suitable for treating mild sprains.

How To Rehab A High Ankle Sprain

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The cost for "durable medical equipment," as these devices are called, may be small compared with the bills for emergency or specialist medical care. But if you're paying for such equipment out-of-pocket, the costs can add up — it's worth your time to look into your coverage and figure out how to get the best deal.

Understanding acute ankle ligamentous sprain injury in sports

This paper summarizes the current understanding on acute ankle sprain injury, which is the most common acute sport trauma, accounting for about 14% of all sport-related injuries. Among, 80% are ligamentous sprains caused by explosive inversion or supination.

Resources

International Ankle Consortium

International Ankle Consortium (IAC) is a non-profit organization which provides forums for the exchange of new scientific and clinical insights into prevention, assessment, and treatment of ankle pathologies from multidisciplinary perspective.

Orthoinfo

Almost all ankle sprains can be treated without surgery. Even a complete ligament tear can heal without surgical repair if it is immobilized appropriately.

ScienceDirect

Ankle sprains are one of the most common athletic injuries and account for nearly half of all sport-related injuries.

StatPearls

Acute ankle sprains are commonly seen in both primary care practices and emergency departments and can result in significant short-term morbidity, recurrent injuries, and functional instability. Appropriate initial evaluation and treatment can decrease the likelihood of these complications.