Lateral Ankle Sprains

Do you suffer from lateral (outside) ankle sprains every year or every few months? Lateral ankle sprains are one of the most common ankle injuries that can affect people of all ages and varying activities from playing sports to simply walking.
An ankle sprain in the acute stages results in pain, swelling, possibly bruising and loss of function. The sudden inversion (rolling in of the foot)results in damage to the lateral (outside) ankle ligaments. The most common ligaments damaged are anterior and posterior talofibular ligaments and the calcaneofibular ligament. The protocol we recommend for acute ankle sprains is PRICE.

P. Protected weight bearing, starting to weight bear soon after the injury can help reduce swelling. We can provide you with a special CAM walker to protect the ankle if necessary. You don't need to weight bear for long periods of time, even a few steps every few hours is a good start.

R. Rest, we need a balance between protected weight bearing and rest to allow the tendons to heal.

I. Ice, icing the ankle every few hours can help reduce swelling

C. Compression. We can provide an ankle wrap to reduce swelling.

E. Early mobilization. After a few days it is important to start to move your ankle downwards, upwards, tilt in, tilt out and toe curls.

Chronic ankle sprains occur when there is reduced neuromuscular control of your ankle. This feeling that your ankle may give way at any time. This happens because of reduced functionality of proprioception. Proprioception is the ability to sense within the body regarding position, motion, and equilibrium. Other factors include reduction in muscle strength, muscle reaction time and postural control. Postural control is really important, it's the ability to maintain a state of balance using activity. A test called the Romberg test, when the patient closes his or her eyes and stands on one foot to assess postural control and balance can help.

What we can do at Dr Foot Podiatry Clinic

Diagnosis is key, we can assess your ankle and identify which ligaments and structures are affected and tailor a treatment plan based on your individual needs. This will include an exercise programme involving a thera band, wobble board and possibly a foam roller. We will also look further up the body at your hips, we know from medical studies that some people who suffer from chronic ankle stability have weak hip abductors. If that is the case then we can identify which of these abductors is weak from our examination and provide specific exercises to target these muscles.

Mobilisation and manipulation of the ankle and especially the talus can really help reduce the occurrence of further ankle sprains.

Foot orthotics can be an essential part of your treatment regime. Often foot alignment is one of the contributing factors for chronic ankle sprains. Custom foot orthotics can be used to improve balance by using unique postings based on a full biomechanical evaluation.

In combating chronic ankle sprains, it appears that the role of foot orthotics is to improve body position and allow a greater range of motion.
If you want to address your chronic ankle sprains then make an initial new patient appointment where we can discuss a full biomechanical evaluation with you.