How to Treat Various Ankle Grade Sprains
Ankle sprains are common injuries that affect countless victims a year. An ankle sprain occurs when the ligaments in the ankle are torn or stretched. While most sprains are manageable with some rest and ice, some require rehabilitation treatment or a physical therapist in Glen Cove. If you’ve recently suffered from a mild to a severely sprained ankle, a physical therapist at Island Sports Physical Therapy in Glen Cove, East Northport, Huntington, Coram, East Meadow, and Smithtown can assist you and make sure you properly heal.
How Severe is My Sprain?
Depending on the severity of your injury, your condition may be placed on a grade scale to base your current ankle sprain:
- Grade 1 Sprain (Mild) – a person with this type of sprain may experience some tenderness around the sprain and ankle swelling. This sprain has the ligament fibers microscopically tearing and slight stretching.
- Grade 2 Sprain (Moderate) – symptoms of this grade moderate swelling around the ankle with more tender skin and muscle around the injury. In a grade 2 sprain, there’s partial tearing and can be shown through abnormal looseness in the ankle joint.
- Grade 3 Sprain (Severe) – in a severe sprain, the ligament is totally torn and the ankle is incredibly swollen.
How Can I Treat This?
There are some ways to treat your ankle sprains, whether it’s mild or severe. In addition to visiting a physical therapist in Glen Cove, there are some treatments you can perform yourself to help speed up your recovery:
- Rest – taking enough time to relax your injured foot allows your body to try and heal itself. Trying to limit the weight you put on the ankle is important as well. Putting your foot up while sitting or using crutches can help keep the stress off your foot.
- Ice – putting ice on an injury can help reduce the swelling for your injury. However, it’s important to put a cloth or a barrier between an ice pack and your skin. Be sure to also ice the ankle for no more than 20 minutes.
- Compression – wearing a brace or some type of device to keep your ankle stable can also help control the swelling of an injury and support the damaged body part.
- Elevation – whether it’s through reclining or propping it up, elevating your foot above the waist or heart is good support for your sprained foot.
The key to recovering from an ankle sprain is knowing how severe the injury is and what steps you can take in treating it. Whether it’s a grade 1 or a grade 3 sprain, a physical therapist in Glen Cove and proper care for the injured ankle will certainly make the difference in your rehabilitation process. At Island Sports Physical Therapy in Glen Cove, we’re dedicated to helping you recover from any injuries you have.
For more information on how we can treat your ankle sprains and other injuries, contact us today!
Physical Therapy in East Northport
A sprained ankle is something that countless athletes suffer from, with 25,000 Americans getting the injury each day. To make matters worse, athletes with ankle sprain injuries were five times more likely to sustain an ankle related injury again. Looking at these statistics should serve as a reminder that no one is prone to sustaining injuries, and we must look at steps to avoid incidents that lead to ankle sprains. Physical therapy in East Northport, Huntington, Nesconset, Coram, East Meadow, and Glen Cove has the staff and resources available to help you recover from any sports or non-sports-related ankle sprain.
A sprained ankle occurs when the ligament holding the ankle bone together either stretches, tears or ruptures. The most common type of sprain is a lateral sprained ankle, in which you roll over the outside of the ankle and damage its range of motion. These types of injuries are especially prevalent in basketball, due to the constant pressure put on athletes lower extremities from repeatedly jumping.
Recovery
There are many steps one should take when recovering from an ankle sprain. However, one of the best to follow is the RICE treatment:
- Rest your ankle by not walking on it.
- Ice your injury to keep swelling down. Ice should be applied 20-30 minutes a day, three to four times daily.
- Compression dressings, ace wraps, and bandaging will help support an injured ankle and keep you immobilized.
- Elevate your ankle above the level of the heart as much as possible for the first couple of days following the time of the injury.
The benefits of physical therapy in Northport can also offer some remedies to treat a sprained ankle:
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- Strength exercises – these workouts will be used to slowly build back strength after an injury. Once pain is no longer felt from weight exercises, physical therapists will focus on other ligaments to help strengthen.
- Proprioception training – also known as balance training, these exercises are used to help prevent future falls and improve your chances of avoiding sprains in the future.
- Endurance/agility – agility drills, such as small running exercises, are a great way to build back range of motion and movement in sprained ankles or other injuries.
Because of the amount of stress on their body, athletes constantly put themselves at risk of getting injured. It’s important to take the necessary precautions to avoid ankle sprains or other injuries. Island Sports Physical Therapy in East Northport will be able to assist athletes and people of all ages on their road to recovery. Contact us today!
Physical Therapy in Huntington
Fall sports, whether it’s football or soccer, have the potential to wear down the athlete’s ability to perform at their highest level. One of the most common injuries during this time of the year are ankle sprains, which might seem tame in terms of other physical problems, but can be an issue over time. In the United States alone, 25,000 Americans suffer from ankle sprains daily, which accounts for almost 50 percent of all sports-related injuries. When you take into consideration the fact that athletes suffering from ankle injuries are five times as likely to suffer another ankle injury, it shows that these types of problems should be avoided at all costs. Island Sports Physical Therapy in Huntington can not only help heal an ankle injury, but they can give necessary steps to avoiding an ankle related issue from happening again.
To avoid the stress of a sprained ankle, follow these tips on how you can avoid sustaining an injury:
Stretching before/after workouts – Although this is something most people do before working out, it’s still important to give yourself some time for your body’s muscles to loosen. Anything from a light jog to stretching your legs can be beneficial in reducing the risk of ankle injury. After your workout, give yourself some time to stretch out any tense muscles that may have been aggravated by physical activity.
Muscle conditioning – Strengthening and building up your muscles around sensitive body parts can prevent an injury from happening while building up a range of motion and mobility as well. A great way to build muscle in your lower body is through cross-training, which can be extremely beneficial to an athlete. Physical therapy in Huntington can give you any advice on how to gain back your strength and recover properly.
Avoid uneven surfaces – When going for a run, try to stay on a track or a surface that is mostly flat. Running on roads that have slopes, ditches, potholes, and other hindrances can certainly injure you. However, if you’re racing and the course is not necessarily smooth, you should cautiously train and learn the route to avoid any surprises.
If you are looking for physical therapy in Huntington, East Northport, Smithtown, Glen Cove, East Meadow, or Coram, contact Island Sports Physical Therapy today!