Sprained Ankle Treatment Tips

Sprained ankle treatment is best remembered by the acronym RICE: Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate. The sooner you treat your sprained ankle, the better too.  An ankle sprain takes time to heal and can limit your mobility and affect your overall ability to exercise and function.

Rest Your Ankle
Get off your feet as soon as possible. If you can, don't put weight on your sprained ankle for the remainder of the day. When you do have to walk, be gentle with your injured ankle.  Walk gingerly.

Ice Your Ankle
Wrap ice in a towel and apply it for twenty-minute increments to the sprain. After 20 minutes of icing, give the sprain a 10- to 20-minute break, then ice again. Repeat this process as many times as possible during the day.

Compress the Sprained Ankle
Wrap your ankle with a bandage to prevent swelling. Make sure to loosen the bandages if the swelling is excessive; you don't want to restrict blood flow to your foot, but you do want to provide support to the injured joint.

Elevate Your Ankle
Try to elevate your ankle above your heart for at least twenty minutes after the sprain occurs. If swelling ensues, keep the ankle elevated as much as possible for the remainder of the day.

Take an Anti-inflammatory Drug
Take the prescribed dose of an anti-inflammatory drug, such as Advil or Aleve, round the clock for the next 48 hours.

See a Doctor if:

• The swelling is excessive
• A hematoma forms
• You cannot stand on the ankle
• Extensive bruising follows
• The ankle is not healing and the injury is higher up on the ankle. You may have a high ankle sprain, otherwise known as an ankle syndesmosis injury. This kind of sprain is more serious than a typical ankle sprain and may require extra attention.

Allow Your Ankle to Heal
You may need to wear a cast or an immobilization boot if the sprain is significant. You may also need surgery if the ligament tore completely. Most sprained ankles need rest, anti-inflammatory drugs, and time to repair for several weeks.

Do not resume exercise that uses your ankle until you are sure you have healed completely. In the meantime, try swimming. The cold water works as an anti-inflammatory agent and the ankle will not be affected while you get a whole body workout.

Rehabilitation
Once your ankle has healed, you will want to do exercises and stretches to strengthen and stretch your ligaments, tendons and muscles in that ankle.

• Modified lunge: Try doing a basic Achilles stretch, where you bend your left knee, place your right foot behind your body, lean forward against a wall, and carefully bend your right knee while keeping your right foot on the ground, creating a nice stretch in your Achilles tendon. Repeat using opposite legs.
• Stand on the edge of the stairs: Allow the back of your heels to fall off the step as you allow your calve muscles to stretch. Come up on your toes, then relax and let the heels hang off the step again.
• Write the alphabet with your toe: Use your toe to write all the letters of the alphabet.
• Stand on a pillow: Practice your balance and strengthen your ankles at the same time by standing on one foot on a pillow for thirty seconds at a stretch.