Ankle injuries are a common part of the summer sport season. What is the best natural protocol to care for your sprained ankle after the fact? Can chiropractic help in the healing process? You bet!
The ankle is complex and made up of a number of different joints. The four main bones are the tibia (distal end), fibula (distal end), the calcaneus, and the talus. The joints also include numerous ligaments and tendons of associated muscles such as gastrocnemius (calf) and anterior tibia (shin) muscles. The main motion of the ankle is a hinge joint with two main movements, plantar flexion (up) and dorsiflexion (down). There are associated movements, inversion (think turning your ankle in with the big toe moving toward the knee and bottom of foot turning inward) and eversion (think pinky toe turning out and top of foot facing the other foot).
The most common injury to the ankle is an inversion sprain. They are seen frequently with sports-related injuries, certainly in anything involving running or actions that require you to stop and change directions or rotate quickly. A sprain is an injury to the ligaments of the joints, and the fibers are pulled or stretched beyond their normal capacity. An inversion sprain occurs when one rolls the ankle inward, such as when you’re walking down the street and your foot catches the edge of the sidewalk and your ankle buckles. That is an inversion sprain: the sole of the foot moves inward toward the other foot and the lateral or outside ligaments of the joints are injured.
It’s rotten when it happens and yet most of us can say that we’ve experienced a sprained/twisted ankle in our lifetime. So what can you do about it?
The truth is that, at some point, most of us have experienced an ankle sprain and, at least in my book, they aren’t fun. Let your chiropractor walk you through the next right step to heal your ankle sprain. You may also find the advice helps prevent others.
The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this page are for informational purposes only. The purpose of this post is to promote broad consumer understanding and knowledge of various health topics, including but not limited to the benefits of chiropractic care, exercise and nutrition. It is not intended to provide or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your chiropractor, physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this page.