Can My Chiropractor Help Me With My Sprained Ankle?

Ankle injuries can be quite bothersome and can have a reoccurring theme to them. Injuries to the ankle are most common during a traumatic event, for example an auto accident or stepping off a curb. The most common traumatic injury associated with the ankle is an ankle sprain. The tissues that are effected the most during a sprain are the lateral ligaments of the ankle joint. The ankle is prone to undergoing inversion during trauma thus stretching the lateral ligaments, more specifically the anterior talofibular (ATF) ligament. When the injury to ATF happens the tissues are stretched to a point of damage where some fibers are torn and some fibers are painfully stretched. This torn and stretched pathology in a certain combination grades the sprain in a class between one and three, with three being the worst.

Once you have an ankle injury, visiting a chiropractor is very important not only to diagnosis a sprain ankle but also to treat it. Chiropractors are very skilled at not only diagnosing musculoskeletal conditions but also rehabbing said conditions as well. The reason why rehabbing an ankle is very important is because the tissues need to lay ligamentous tissue and not scare tissue. If scare tissue is laid down in place of normal tissue the patient will be troubled with future sprains of that same ligaments as well as being prone to an unstable ankle. Scare tissue is not nearly as strong or pliable as regular ligamentous tissue therefore injury reoccurrence is almost a certainty.

Once the chiropractor diagnosis the injury as a ligamentous sprain the first method of treatment should be to decrease inflammation and trying to halt the inflammatory process. The inflammation process can be stopped by ice baths and cryotherapy. Cryotherapy and electric muscle stimulation can also concurrently help with decreasing the pain level. If a grade three sprain is ruled out and tissues have decreased in inflammatory exudate and pain has decrease to a workable level, the facilitation of the rehab phase can take place. The rehab phase first should include the promotion of health ligamentous tissue being laid down where the injury occurred, this could be done in the form of cross friction massage or light Graston therapy. The first day after the rehab phase there will be pain, word of warning but that should subdue with time. Once the chiropractor is successful with the rehab phase then the strengthen phase can start to be ushered in. The strengthen phase is perhaps the most important one, using strengthen and proprioception exercise to restore the ankle to proper function.

The rehabilitation of the ankle can take some time but it is totally worth it, you don't want to always worry about your ankle at the most inopportune times. It only takes one injury with the improper rehab to cause life long weakness or problems. If you or someone you know needs help with ankle injuries be sure to visit our Plano Chiropractic office website.