What's that Wednesday: Ankle Sprains

So you rolled your ankle?

It's kind of swollen. It hurts to walk, but you're tough.

Rub some dirt on it. It'll get better, I think?

A popular injury we see is ankle sprains. Popular for a reason too.

What is it?

The ATFL (a ligament) is the most commonly sprained ligament in the human body! 

And it just so happens to be on the outside part of your ankle. 

So if you have ever rolled your ankle, you probably sprained your ATFL.

So what? 

Low grade (grade 1) ankle sprains usually get better with minimal to no problems. 

Great!

Medium or high grade (grade 2-3) ankle sprains need some attention or they can turn into long term problems.

Not great...

What can you do about it?

Restore mobility (stretch your calves)

Restore stability (balance training)

Restore pain-free pushoff (running/jumping).

Simple, but sometimes not easy. This recipe is a good one for avoiding chronic ankle issues.

Story Time

It is my first year of Physical Therapy school.

I just finished playing some street soccer.

I step over the soccer ball and fling my body sideways.

What was that??

Oh... I stepped ON the ball and rolled my ankle like my life depended on it.

Luckily, we were testing for ankle sprains in class the next day.

So my hot, swollen, painful, bruised ankle got to be the test dummy of all 30+ students that day. 

Now you can't say I didn't do anything for the science community. 

Have a wild ankle sprain story? I would love to hear about it.

Got a weird injury or a burning question you want answered? Drop it in the comments below and I will talk through it on next week's "What's that Wednesday". 

-Dr. Jon Bailey, PT, DPT, OCS