One of the most common Brampton sports injuries is a sprained ankle. In fact, even those not involved in sports are very likely to encounter a sprained ankle. Whether on the football field or simply walking down the stairs, the ankle is uniquely vulnerable to injury.
Consider how much your ankle rotates and bends throughout the day and you’ll realize why this injury is so common—one wrong movement and the ankle can be put in a compromising situation. The result is an overstretched or possibly torn ligament in the ankle; the injury can vary from highly common and quick healing, to more severe. Read below to learn more about what a sprained ankle is and possible treatment methods for coping with one.
Recognizing a sprain
A sprain in the ankle most often occurs when your foot is firmly planted to the ground, and there is an abrupt physical shift in your ankle. Usually the foot turns inward while the ankle shifts outward, causing damage to the outside of the ankle, although other variations are known to occur.
Stiffness, swollenness and bruising often develop soon after spraining an ankle. If you can continue to walk, only with mild discomfort, then the sprain may be mild. Severe pain or feeling unstable on the ankle is often a symptom of a more severe sprain. If a sprained ankle is due to a Brampton sports injury, then there is a high likelihood that the sprain is more severe and needs to be seen by a professional right away.
In fact, regardless of how the injury may have occurred, and even if you judge your sprain to be rather mild, the importance of having a professional check it cannot be understated. A professional doctor is better able to judge the severity of an ankle sprain than anyone else. This is often done by physical examination, tests to determine the extent of the sprain, and possibly even X-rays.
Also of importance is checking other ligaments and joints to determine whether anything else was damaged. Sometimes the knee or other areas can sustain damage as a result of a sprained ankle and finding this out sooner rather than later is critical for proper healing and treatment.
Treatment for healthier recovery
With the proper diagnosis of your Brampton sports injury, you can guarantee the right treatment method for you. Treatment should be custom tailored to your specific injury, especially the severity of it and whether anything else was damaged or not.
In most cases, treatment involves protection from further movement, such as a brace, in order to allow the ligaments optimal healing conditions. This is often done in conjunction with a recommended time of inactivity, icing, medication and various compression devices. In more extreme cases, surgery may be required.
You can learn more by consulting with a health care professional, especially if you have recently been injured. Without proper diagnosis and managed treatment, your ankle may end up never feeling the same again. However, with proper medical attention, you’ll be back on your feet in no time at all.