This injury is very common across many different sports and daily activities. Most ankle sprains improve quickly allowing the individual to return to sports activity within several weeks. Sometimes an ankle sprain is a more serious injury, however. If you’ve experienced an ankle sprain type injury, initially its important to rest and ice it. At Sports Health Northwest, we want to help you recover fully from your ankle sprain. Please contact our office for an evaluation if you are experiencing ankle pain and swelling after an injury.
Ankle sprains
Ankle sprains are very common across many different sports and daily activities. While ankle sprains occur more frequently in teens than adults this painful injury is among the most common injuries managed in an emergency department.
Some risk factors include decreased balance, ankle joint stiffness, and playing indoor sports like basketball. Also playing soccer on grass rather than turf has been shown to increase the risk of ankle sprain.
The most common type of ankle sprain is a lateral ankle sprain that involves inversion of the foot. This causes outer ankle pain along with possibly swelling and bruising.
While most ankle sprains improve quickly allowing the individual to return to sports activity within several weeks. Sometimes ankle sprains can actually be a more serious injury. High ankle (syndesmotic) sprains sometimes take months to improve and can be misdiagnosed early on which can lead to even longer recovery time. Evaluation of an injured ankle requires a careful history and physical exam by a sports medicine specialist paying careful attention to areas of pain and swelling.
If you’ve experienced an ankle sprain type injury, initially it’s important to Rest, Ice, Compress, and Elevate (RICE) it. Also, using crutches initially instead of limping on the affected ankle is important. At Sports Health Northwest, we want to help our active Portland area individuals recover quickly and fully from ankle sprains so they can get back to sports like basketball, soccer, and hiking.
