Ankle Sprain: How to Treat and Recover?
Exercise is one of the best ways to enhance your immune system. For example, some people really enjoy playing basketball, and there are definitely many people who also like to exercise.
While exercising strengthens the body and people feel relaxed after sweating, they often overlook that fitness is a double-edged sword. If the method is not right, it can cause various sports injuries. If not taken seriously, it can even affect one's daily work and life, which is a regrettable thing.
So today, let's talk about a common sports injury: sprain.What is a sprain? It is also known as 'ankle sprain' medically.
It is an injury caused by external force exceeding the maximum range of motion of the ankle joint, resulting in the stretching and tearing of muscles, ligaments, and even joint capsules, causing pain, swelling, and limping.It is the most common injury in daily life, generally with 'lateral ankle sprain' as the most common type.However, people's understanding of sprains is not in place, often with the idea of 'it's not a fracture, just rest for a while and walk slowly,' they don't realize that a simple sprain, if not taken seriously, can lead to secondary sprains or more serious injuries, which will affect walking and daily activities.
Therefore, rehabilitation after sprain plays an important role in its recovery.How should we handle sprain?Immediate treatment after injury:
Apply pressure to the injured ankle joint, ice pack, elevate, and rest to control ankle redness and swelling.
Post-sprain treatment methods:
1. Immediately stop the movement, ice the ankle with an ice bag for 10-15 minutes every 40 minutes within 48 hours.
2. Simply fix the injured ankle with elastic bandage, but be sure not to wrap it too tightly to avoid insufficient blood supply.
3. Raise the affected limb to a position above the heart to relieve swelling.
Note:
Do not use hot compress during the acute phase of sprain, as hot compress will dilate capillaries, increase blood flow, and worsen swelling.
If you feel that the above operations cannot relieve the symptoms, you can also go to the hospital for X-ray examination and professional diagnosis.
Rehabilitation after sprain:
Rehabilitation after sprain generally starts 1-2 weeks after sprain, at this time the swelling subsides and the pain decreases.
In the early stage, after stopping the movement of the ankle joint, we should do ankle external rotation, dorsiflexion, and plantar flexion strength training using elastic bandage.
You can also do heel raises, and more advanced movements are single-leg heel raises.
Later, stabilization and recovery training can be combined with core strength training to further strengthen leg and abdominal muscles to maintain stability. Such as core training on a stability ball.
Note:
1. When doing ankle strength training, some actions that put a lot of pressure on the ankle should not be done, if the ankle is injured by internal inversion or external inversion, avoid direct internal or external inversion actions.
2. In the initial recovery period, do not perform jumping or other high-intensity movements, minimize ankle activity, and if you stimulate it repeatedly, it will cause more serious injuries.
3. Do not stretch in the initial injury, otherwise it may worsen the severity of ligament damage.
4. During rehabilitation, follow a gradual principle, do not increase the intensity, and do a systematic and purposeful training to achieve the best recovery effect.
The above is what we want to share with you. In short, although the problem is small, everyone should not ignore it.
It is best for everyone to do a series of warm-up exercises before exercising to adjust their physical condition to the best state before starting activities, which will minimize the risk of injury.
Similarly, don't be afraid of injury, scientific methods and treatment will be the most effective for your recovery, believe in the power of rehabilitation.
Source: Gao Yi, Shanxi Provincial Integrated Chinese and Western Medical Hospital, Rehabilitation Medicine Department
Picture: Network (deleted)
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