Long summer walks, country roads leading to the sea full of bushes and unevenness, mountain trails with hidden potholes, the desire to get lots of exercise to compensate for the usual sedentary life, all these contribute to the risk of spraining an ankle.
An ankle sprain, occurs when the ankle is found, as a result of an incorrect movement, to twist and turn in a forced manner. Thus, an injury occurs to the ligaments that contain its component bones. The foot of the distorted ankle afterward may tend outward or inward, depending on the type of injury and its severity. Traumatic movement can stretch or injure the bands that defend the ankle and keep it stable.
Unexpected forcing sprains the ankle as it goes to force its range of motion and can cause a lateral injury.
What are the presenting symptoms?
– pain as soon as the foot of the sprained ankle is put down
– Ankle swells and shows bruising
– the ankle appears unstable and cannot support the person’s weight.
How to intervene?
Before the type of injury caused and its severity can be ascertained with the physician (R.I.C.E. Protocol), some essential measures can be taken to cope with the unexpected trauma:
– Apply ice on the ankle for half an hour and to be repeated several times with a break of a couple of hours
– Bandage the ankle with an elastic bandage to limit swelling , avoiding overtightening and impeding circulation
– keep the ankle elevated , even at night ,so as not to fatigue it and to keep the swelling down
– Obtain an over-the-counter pain reliever from a pharmacy that can relieve pain while allowing better rest.
