Prompt Care of Your Sprained Ankle Can Prevent Chronic Instability

Americans are no strangers to sprained ankles — about two million occur each year, but this estimate may be low as many people don’t seek help for this type of injury. Not coming to see us when you sprain an ankle is risky because up to 70% of people with ankle sprains go on to struggle with chronic issues, which very much include chronic ankle instability.

As podiatry and sports injury experts, Dr. John Schopp and the team here at Advanced Ankle & Foot see our fair amount of ankle sprains, and we have seen time and again how this seemingly minor and temporary injury can lead to a nagging and lifelong problem should chronic ankle instability set in. Our goal is to prevent that from happening with early and skilled care of the original ankle sprain.

The degrees of an ankle sprain

Let’s start with discussing the varying degrees of ankle sprains because, as you might imagine, that dictates the joint’s future to a large degree.

When you sprain an ankle, you stretch or tear the ligaments in the joint that attach bone to bone. Around 90% of ankle sprains occur when your foot turns inward, which stretches the anterior talofibular and calcaneofibular ligaments on the outside of your ankle. Less commonly, you can sprain an ankle when your foot turns out, which affects the ligament on the inside of your ankle.

No matter the location, there are three grades of ankle sprains:

• Grade 1 — Stretching and microscopic tearing in the ligament
• Grade 2 — Partial tearing of the ligament
• Grade 3 — Complete tear of the ligament

While we can quickly assess the ankle sprain and give you an idea about the grade, you can also tell from your symptoms. If you have minor pain and swelling, it’s probably a grade 1 sprain. If you can’t bear any weight in your ankle and it’s bruised, swollen, and tender, it’s probably a grade 2 or 3 sprain.

How chronic ankle instability develops

If you’re experiencing issues in your ankle long after the original sprain should have healed, this is likely chronic ankle instability. Some of the hallmarks of this condition include:

• Your ankle gives out often and rolls to the outside
• You have nagging pain and swelling in your ankle
• The joint just doesn’t feel strong 

There are several reasons why people develop chronic ankle instability, and heading this list are:

Repeated ankle sprains

If you sprain the same ankle several times, the ligaments may lose strength with each injury, leaving you with loose ligaments and an unstable ankle.

A bad sprain

If you incur a severe grade 2 or 3 sprain, your ligaments might be stretched or torn beyond their ability to bounce back.

Not healing right the first time

Many of our patients develop chronic ankle instability because they didn’t properly address the original sprain, which is why we want you to come see us anytime you injure this important joint. If you don’t know what you’re dealing with, you might not be taking the right steps in terms of bracing, activity modification, and rest.

Conversely, under our guidance, we can determine the exact extent of the damage and come up with a plan that will help your ligaments heal strongly.

The takeaway here is that a minor injury such as an ankle sprain can become a nagging, lifelong problem, so taking the time now to have us treat your ankle sprain is time well spent.

If you want to avoid chronic ankle instability, please contact our office in Columbus, Georgia, for expert care of your sprained ankle.