Accidents are ubiquitous, which can happen anywhere at any time unpredictable and inevitable. Therefore, it is crucial to know how to handle the situation calmly with proper steps of first aid promptly to apply after an injury, which can help in healing and prevent deterioration. This blog will focus on a sprained ankle injury and will share the actual case of an acute injury, explain how to handle and provide advice for reference.
Source: Google
What is an Ankle?
The ankle is a joint that connects a leg and foot, to allow us to control our foot movement. It contains bones and joints, ligaments and tendons, muscles, nerves, and blood vessels.
In most cases, the sprained ankle will cause ligament injury which could be mild but sometimes severe. Ligaments are strong tissue connecting bones and provide stability to the joint. Without ligament protection, a joint chronic sprain may be suffered.
Symptoms
The symptoms of a sprained ankle are quite obvious, it depends on the severity of the injury. Due to the ankle being forced to move in an abnormal direction unexpectedly, the suddenly increased intensity caused the ligaments of the ankle were being partially or even completely torn. Based on the damage to ligaments, it can be divided into THREE grades of severity.
The symptoms usually include:
- Pain
- Tenderness
- Swelling
- Warmth
- Redness
It is highly recommended to seek professional advice if you have any doubts.
In Hong Kong, if you have not purchased any insurance for accidents, the A&E service in public hospitals provides the cheapest way for injury evaluation and X-ray scans. Once you are diagnosed with a fracture, doctors will refer you to apply a plaster cast directly. MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan) would also be referred to check the soft tissues in more detail if necessary.
For Grade 1 and Grade 2 injuries, self-treatment by resting and applying Chinese herbal treatment will be good enough for healing. However, for Grade 3 injuries, it will take much more time to heal, and sometimes even surgery may be recommended.
The P.O.L.I.C.E. Principle
This is a sprain-treating method suggested by orthopaedists. In general, the basic concept of handling a twisting injury is to cool down the affected area immediately and keep the injured part elevated above the heart level as often as possible to avoid swelling.
Protection
In order to avoid further damage, it is suggested to wear an ankle brace or use crutches to assist on the first couple of days.
Optimal Loading
This is the rehabilitation part for improving the ankle’s strength and flexibility. Foot and Ankle conditioning program provides ways of exercise for injured ankle training, it is recommended to follow under a physiotherapist or doctor’s supervision.
Ice
Applying ice on the injured joint for 10-15min every 2-3 hours in the first 48 hours after injury, to reduce inflammation and swelling. And Heat treatment can only be applied before stretching and performing strengthening activities later when the joint has become stable.
Compression
In order to prevent edema, use an elastic bandage or sports tapes to apply pressure onto the swelled area to force body fluid back into circulation. This also helps to provide stability to the joint for moving.
Elevation
The most effective way to elevate the injured ankle to prevent blood from pooling is to place it on a stack of pillows when sleeping.
Case Study
This is the real case of a sprained ankle injury that happened on 27JUL2022, which was diagnosed as a Grade 3 level of injury, both of the ligaments (ATFL and CFL) were torn completely.
Comparing the MRI report on 09AUG2022 and 20DEC2022, the overall finding show interval improvement. In fact, 90% of the daily activities resumed but edema has still remained as stated in the report. Rehab exercise is recommended to continue by orthopaedists.
To wrap up, everyone should equip themselves with basic first-aid knowledge in order to be able to provide help in time. Learning how to deal with urgent situations and always comply with drills of different scenarios in our brains in advance, can prevent the situation from getting worse by anxiety which would delay the whole progress.