A sprained ankle is a very obvious condition known as rolled ankle or twisted ankle, which happens mostly due to injury on one or more ankle ligaments. Generally, the injury is frequent in the sports such as volleyball, football, racquet sports, etc.
The injury can range from a little twist to severe condition. Whereas, you should know how to handle the situation supported by the need of self -care or medical sprained ankle treatment on severity.
What can be the signs of a sprained ankle?
The signs that appear with the sprain can include quick swelling in the surrounding area. Even a painful sensation can kill your movement steps while moving your ankle joint or walking with forwarded knees over the foot.
In case your injury is of a severe level, you should visit a doctor for the correct sprained ankle treatment. The doctor suggests you to get some imaging scans for a detailed view of your injury. The scans may include:
- X-Ray view
The mentioned test can make the confusion clear for the fractured bones. This test includes the process where a certain amount of radiation can be passed through your ankle bones to detect the damage.
- CT Scan view
It is a deeper test than an X-ray as during the test X rays are taken from various angles. They get combined further as the totality of the images to describe the detailed view of the injury as 3D images for the sprained ankle treatment.
- Ultrasound view
It helps the doctor to find the correct situation of the ligaments or the tendon with the diversified position of the foot. The process uses sound waves to take out real-time images of the ankle bone.
What can be the possible ways of sprained ankle treatment?
The primary purpose of the sprained ankle treatment is to provide healing support to the swelling and ligaments to get the original functionality of the ankle back without pain.
Let’s have a look into the treatments for different damaging conditions of the ankle:
- Self-care: try to follow the R.I.C.E approach for the sprained ankle treatment. Let your ankle take a rest by ignoring the movement activities that can create swelling, pain, or any other issue. Then you can provide ice packs on the injured part for immediate relief from pain and continue for several minutes. Repeat it till the period you are awake but you can consult your doctor first in case you are suffering from diabetes or any other vascular diseases. Then you can compress the ankle with an elastic bandage to get rid of the swellings, but it should not be too tight to become a hassle to circulation. At last, elevate your ankle, which can give you relaxation from swelling by draining extra fluid.
- Medicinal support with aids: Pain killers are required in severe damage to get relaxed from the pain. One should consult a doctor before taking it. Even you need to have the crutches till the pain lowers down. Even doctors suggest an ankle support brace or walking boot to immobilize the ankle during the healing process.
- Exercises or Therapy: In case of less pain and swelling, your physiotherapist guide you to follow some consistent exercises to make the ankle strong and back to its motion. The sprained ankle treatment therapy includes exercises to strengthen the affected muscles surrounding the ankle. During the activities, ankle braces and taping can make the step easier. Balance and growth in healing can support the usage of a trampoline or wobble board. It is advised to start the program of exercise just after the ankle sprain improves, it can help you lead to start walking slowly to capture the normal schedule.
- Surgery: It can be taken into account only after a long period invested with physical therapy or rehabilitative exercises with the persistence of the condition, it can be done to heal the ligament, and reconstruct a new ligament with the tissue from the close ligament or tendon. Surgery can only be opted under your doctor’s recommendation as per the severity.
Bottom Line
A foot can move with the ankle joints and can be treated well in case of injury. The sprained ankle treatment can support the fast recovery of your ankle to get mobilized. You should take advice from your doctor to fetch the correct treatment as per the need of your damage.