Preventing and treating Ankle Injuries – keeping your ankles healthy and pain-free

We've all experienced an ankle injury of some kind once or twice in our lifetimes.

Ankle injuries are fairly common, and often hard to avoid.

Usually, ankle injuries are the result of an unexpected loss of balance that causes your ankle to “twist.” If you slip, for example, or misjudge a step on uneven ground, you may lose balance and cause an ankle injury.

Types of ankle injuries

• Strains – This is the most minor type of ankle injury. Strains are caused by the overstretching of a muscle or tendon
• Sprains – More severe than a strain, this ankle injury results from the overstretching of a ligament.
• Avulsion fractures – This severe sprain occurs when the ligament is stretched so far that it removes pieces from the bone. It is one of the most serious ankle injuries.

Most ankle injuries are described as either inversion ankle injuries or pronation ankle injuries. An inversion ankle injury occurs when the foot twists inward, causing damage to the lateral ligaments. The less common pronation ankle injury results when the foot twists outward.

Avoiding ankle injuries

Aside from watching where you walk, you can lower your risk of ankle injuries by avoiding high-heeled shoes and maintaining a healthy body weight. Even though well-conditioned athletes can also suffer ankle injuries, being overweight makes it easier to lose balance and cause an ankle injury.

Ankle injury treatments

The best way to treat an ankle injury is RICE:

• Rest – As soon as possible, stop putting weight on the ankle.
• Ice – Apply a cold compress to the ankle injury.
• Compression – Firmly wrap an elastic bandage around the ankle.
• Elevation – Keep the ankle above heart level as much as you can.

While anti-inflammatory painkillers like ibuprofen can help with swelling and pain, serious ankle injuries may require physical therapy, and even bracing once your ankle injury has healed.

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