Ankle Sprains
Ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries that plague athletes and active individuals and are in fact the leading cause of missed time for amateur and professional athletes. One of the worst facts about an ankle sprain is that if the ligament and soft tissue damage is not sufficiently rehabilitated the injury tends to come back and become a chronic issue.
The most common ankle injury is the inversion sprain “rolling your ankle” which damages the talofibular and/or calcaneofibular ligaments. Less common, but more detrimental is an eversion sprain in which the deltoid ligament is damaged, usually requiring much more intervention and a longer rest period. Lastly there is a high ankle sprain in which the extensor retinaculum that holds the muscles and tendons from the legs as they go to the top of the foot in place becomes damaged.
In all cases there will usually be immediate pain and swelling which should be treated with ice 20 minutes every 2 hours, elevation, rest and compression to prevent excessive swelling which further damages the tissues.
After the initial swelling there will be discoloration and loss of range of motion in the ankle and the foot which can persist from days to months and without proper treatment may never fully resolve. It is important to treat an ankle sprain as soon as possible to get the best possible outcome. It is also important to determine the cause of the injury so that it does not repeat itself.
Even though it may seem the injury was caused by an accident many times people have muscular or neurological imbalances that predispose them to this kind of injury. Maybe there are balance issues, foot or knee subluxations, lumbopelvic subluxations, soft tissue fibrosis and scarring all of which cause the joint to fatigue more quickly and respond more slowly leading to injury.
With a complete history, focused orthopedic, neurological and chiropractic examination, x-ray and any additional special tests that may be deemed necessary, we can determine the CAUSE of the symptoms.
Our goal is to tell you what is wrong, why it is wrong and how we will go about fixing it, however, if for some reason it is out of our scope of practice we will surely refer you to the specialist that can best help you resolve the issue.
It comes down to whether you want the opportunity to heal faster, prevent future injury and perform at a higher level with proper care, or just hope it will go away without treatment.
In our office we utilize specific adjustments of the foot and ankle, Active Release Technique to the supporting muscles and ligaments, specific exercise therapy to rehabilitate the tissues and restore neuromuscular balance, cold laser therapy to decrease inflammation and pain while accelerating the healing process at the cellular level as well as nutritional advice to improve the body’s ability to heal faster and with greater strength.
