COMMON SPORTS MEDICINE CONDITIONS

Location

The lateral ankle ligaments and ankle joint capsule is most often affected.

Symptoms

During any weight-bearing activity, it may feel like the ankle is going to collapse, with pain and constant swelling.

Diagnosis

Medical attention should be sought as soon after injury as possible as bleeding into the ankle joint is common, leading to chronic inflammation.

Treatment

There are four ways available to manage an ankle ligament sprain/rupture:

• Nothing and simply wait for the ankle to settle.
• Immobilise the injured ankle in a plaster cast for a period of 4-6 weeks.
• Functional rehabilitation to treat the sprained ankle (a graded physiotherapy programme, often combined with a removable ankle brace).
• Surgery, persisting ankle pain or instability may indicate the need of surgery to remove loose cartilage, inflamed tissue or scar tissue from the joint or to repair injured ligaments.

Further help:

www.wellingtonfootandankleunit.com/ankle-sprains.asp