Friday, January 23, 2009

Ankle Sprain Recovery - How Well Do You Treat Yourself

By Ferdinand Dubem

The time period for an ankle sprain recovery greatly varies from case to case. What happens in the first 3hrs after the injury happens, greatly affects the course of treatment; adherence to the orders of a physician in the aftermath determines the ankle sprain convalescence time.

True, this recovery period is also determined in great part by the overall health and age of the patient, however if the person fails to totally follow all of the rules and regulations enunciated by a schooled medical professional, there is a great chance that a complete recuperation may take months instead of weeks.

Furthermore, the ankle sprain recovery may be severely hindered by a potential for reinjuring the very one ligament that became excessively stretched or torn. This is the case when the sprain is not adequately iced, supported, and enhanced. In some cases there is also the prospect that too much weight is being put on the leg too soon after the injury happened. The use of pain killers is regrettably largely to blame for this happening. The pain associated with an ankle sprain recovery alerts the patient if she or he opts to overly strain the limb.

With the utilization of pain killers, this pain is masked and the patient may be unaware that the strain on the affected limb is too great for comfort. Without the bodily warning to take it easy and allow for a complete ankle sprain recovery, there is the potency for adding a secondary wound to the first one. Yet even in cases where the patient works hard on avoiding the strain on the ankle, there is still the risk of undergoing another injury.

This happens when the ankle sprain recovery period tempts the patient to change the way she or he applies the limb. This might indicate an uneven distribution of weight, just to avoid crutches or a wheelchair. The ligaments most at risk during this time are those tied in with the knee joint. If the ankle sprain recovery period does indeed translate into a secondary wound to the knee of the same limb, there is a great chance that this will lead to a reinjuring of the ankle joint as soon as the knee joint is in treatment. Docs may seriously consider total immobilization of the leg or even surgery to provide a thorough healing of both ligaments at the same time.

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