Ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries for athletes who participate in sports that require running or jumping. Playing sports or exercising avidly can expose your feet and ankles to additional and uncommon forces. Simply engaging yourself in physical activities can cause injury. Some causes for injury may be: bad body mechanics, underlying medical conditions, poor weight distribution, weak or over used muscles, and/or the wrong footwear.
Many professional athletes play with sprains and strains because it is part of the job/game that they live for, but it may be doing more damage than they realize. Now that the Super Bowl is in less than a week away, many athletes are rehabbing their injuries so they are 100% ready for the big game. How do you know when enough is enough? For example the Indianapolis Colts, defensive end, Dwight Freeney, missed a second consecutive practice on Thursday with a sprained right ankle. Coach Jim Caldwell said Freeney was “coming along” in his recovery. Team president Bill Polian has stated Freeney will play in next week’s Super Bowl. Freeney sprained his right ankle late in the AFC championship game against the New York Jets. It is important for Freeney to be 100% because he will be counted on to try to slow Drew Brees and the lethal New Orleans attack.
It goes to show even if we are in great shape, one awkward step can cause a nasty ankle sprain. The healing process after an ankle sprain happens immediately. Swelling is usually one of the first symptoms noticed along with pain. Swelling or inflammation is your body’s reaction to the injury to help bring nutrients to the area to speed the healing process. RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) is the term used to treat sprains for acute injuries. It is also important to strengthen the ankle muscles to prevent from further sprains during the rehabilitative process. Avoiding constant re-injury is critical. Obviously, it delays the healing process, but even worse, every re-injury and additional healing cycle means increased scar tissue build-up in the soft tissue.
Scar tissue is hard, inflexible, and tough to get rid of. As scar tissue develops, you lose the range of motion for that foot. Also, the more scar tissue, the more likely you will suffer from chronic pain or arthritis later on. Scar tissue means that your ankle does not perform as well as it once did and it makes it prone to injury again and again. If you have an injured ankle, it’s very important to heal it quickly and completely. Incomplete healing means it may curse you forever.
If you experience any type of ankle pain, you should always seek medical assistance as soon as possible to prevent further damage from occurring.
By Valerie Gregory, MSPT, CKPT
Tags: ankle pain, ankle sprain, Ankle Sprains, Drew Brees, Dwight Freeney, foot pain, Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans, Super Bowl
