Sprained Ankle: When should you seek more help

Ankle Sprains are among the most common injuries, constituting 40 percent of all athletic injuries. That is about 1 ankle sprain every 1.6 minutes! 

Inversion (rolling the ankle in) is the most common mechanism of injury. You may experience a pop and have swelling, bruising and difficulty walking. The lateral aspect of your ankle (the outside of the ankle) is the most commonly involved area. There are three different types of ligaments there that can get injured: the anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL), the posterior talofibular ligament (PTFL) and the calcaneofibular ligament(CFL).  The ATFL is the most commonly injured of the three. 

Most experts would recommend that you rest, apply ice, compress and elevate your ankle in the first few hours of the injury. If you are experiencing a lot of pain, you can consider short term immobilization of your ankle (wearing walking boot) for 1-2 weeks. It is essential to start rehabilitation exercises after 2 weeks as staying in the boot for more than 2 weeks can make your ankle stiff and scar tissues to form. 

Having severe pain, atypical symptoms, inability to stand on your foot at all, not being able to do rehabilitation exercises or not being able to return to normal activities after 4 weeks are all good reasons to seek medication attention. 

Other conditions and/or injuries may seem like an ankle injury. Examples include breaks/fractures of different bones in the foot and ankle, more involved ligament injuries or “high ankle sprain”, or syndesmosis injury. 

Not sure what to do next? contact us for help. Osra Medical provides a gay friendly, fear free environment that makes it easy to discuss sensitive matters concerning your health. Our concierge doctor provides informative, affordable, and personalized primary care. Osra Medical is home to primary care physicians in San Francisco that specialize in gay and bisexual men’s health. We’re currently accepting new patients and would love to help you today!