Don't Fight Through The Pain, Treat Every Ankle Sprain

By Vernalisa T Nelson


One injury that tons of athletes may experience from time to time is the ever painful ankle sprain, which can range from a mild annoyance to a severe injury. The pain that comes with this type of injury occurs because the ligaments in that area were overextended and most likely ripped with many small tears. You may not have given your joint a full twist or even injured it beyond the point of a small pull with an insignificant pain, but it is still advised that you allow your doctor to give it a look.

In the case of an inversion sprain, which is really the most usual type that most people go through, the injury occurs when the foot hits the ground incorrectly and bottom of the foot flips inward, allowing the joint to overstretch the ligaments on the outside. A more rare kind of injury to this joint is referred to as an eversion sprain, in which case the bottom of the foot will flip up to face outwards and tear the ligaments on the inside; this sometimes results in a fracture, as well.

The primary parts of this specific joint of your body that will suffer the most damage are one of two major ligaments that are located there, the talofibular and calcaneofibular ligaments, and the talofibular connects the fibula to the talus and is much more easily injured. The calcaneofibular ligament is the one that connects the fibular bone to the bone of the heel, and this particular ligament is usually only injured in the event of a severe twist.

There is more than just a couple of ligaments in this joint that can take some punishment as well, such as the tissue that surrounds the joint that can get bruised and swell up to the size of a softball to the many small bones that can fracture into small splinters inside your foot. The worse thing about an injury to such an important joint is not the pain but the fact that it can cause you to walk and perform poorly in the future, so you want to make sure you get the proper medical care to ensure you have the best treatments to get everything back in place.

Even though you may not think your ankle sprain is a very important matter, you should keep in mind that it can affect the way you play in the future and therefore be a real hindrance to your game. The best way to keep up your game and always be the best athlete you can ever be is to take good care of yourself and not ignore injuries such as these.




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