An ankle sprain is an injury that occurs when you roll, twist, or turn your ankle in an awkward way that results in one or more of the ligaments of the ankle to be partially or completely torn.
Ankle sprains are unfortunate injuries that can happen due to poor footwear, uneven surfaces, sports and falls or trauma to the ankle and leg.
With ankle sprains physiotherapy is crucial in allowing optimal healing to occur around the injured ligaments of the ankle and to strengthen the surrounding muscles around the ankle to prevent relapse of the injury again.
Poorly managed ankle sprains can result in:
- Chronic ankle pain
- Chronic ankle swelling
- Chronic ankle instability
- Decrease in running/walking/jumping ability.
The types of ankle sprains
- Lateral ligament ankle sprain
- Medial ligament ankle sprain
- High ankle sprain
Every ankle sprain has a different mechanism of injury and the ligament damage occurs at different sites. Therefore, a physiotherapist needs to carefully examine and diagnose an ankle sprain so that the appropriate treatment and care can be provided for full recovery.
If poor diagnosis is made regarding your ankle sprain long term chronic issues can come back and haunt you in the future.
Signs and symptoms of ankle sprains
- Swelling, bruising and tenderness can occur on either side of the ankle
- Inability to weight bear or only partially able to weight bear
- There should be no bone tenderness around the ankle (if bone tenderness present suspect bone fracture and get immediate X ray)
- There should be a clear mechanism of rolling/turning/twisting of ankle
Grading system of ankle sprains
Grade 1 ankle sprain: microscopic injury without stretching of the ligament on a macroscopic level.
Grade 2 ankle sprain: macroscopic stretching, but the ligament remains intact.
Grade 3 ankle sprain: complete rupture of the ligament.
The grading system of ankle sprains are used as general references for the management of ankle sprains accordingly. Here at Physio Ready we have a systematic diagnosis procedure for all ankle sprains to make sure you receive the correct diagnosis and management.
Can Physio Ready help with chronic ankle sprain issues and not just acute ankle sprains?
Whether you are dealing with a chronic ankle sprain or an acute ankle sprain we can help.
With chronic ankle sprain issues, we will go through a detailed examination to determine the best management and treatment. A lot of the times chronic ankle sprain issues are due to poor healing of ligaments and poor muscle activation. With temporary protection and use of modalities such as low intensity pulsed ultrasound we can heal your ligaments within time frame of 4-6 weeks and then commence therapeutic exercises after to improve the activation of the muscles around the ankle to prevent relapse of pain.
With acute ankle sprains the early management is more about offloading the damaged structure using methods such as bracing and taping with the addition of low intensity pulsed ultrasound to promote ankle ligament healing.
Need help for your acute or chronic ankle sprain?
Contact Physio Ready today on (02) 9249 9122 for Ryde Clinic or (02) 8622 1681 for Ermington Clinic and see one of our ankle expert physiotherapists for your ankle problems.