City Footcare NYC
Podiatric Medicine & Surgery
We treat all problems of the foot and ankle.
Ankle Sprains and Pain
Definition:
An ankle sprain is the most common injury to the ankle. The long term consequence of an ankle sprain can result in chronic ankle pain.
The most common type is the inversion ankle sprain, in which the ankle rolls over on the outside.
An ankle sprain is the stretching and tearing of ligaments.
The most common damage is done to the anterior talofibular ligament, grade 1. If the ankle sprain is worse, the calcaneofibular ligament can additionally be damaged, grade 2. And in a grade 3, the poterior talofibular ligament is damaged in addition to the first two ligaments above.
Sometimes the ankle tendons can also get damaged.
Cause:
Anything that makes the ankle ‘tip over’ increases the chance of an ankle sprain. This can occur in sport (eg jumping and landing on someone’s else’s foot), walking on uneven surface, & twisting motions etc.
A number of factors predispose to ankle sprains:
- Poor rehabilitation of a previous sprained ankle
- Poor proprioception (proprioception is the ability to sense where a joint is. If you don’t sense when your ankle is about to sprain, the muscles will not be able to prevent the ankle sprain.
- Some ankles are very easy to ‘tip over’. This is common in those who frequently ‘roll the ankle’, without actually doing any damage and spraining the ankle.
- Weak muscles. They are just not strong enough to prevent the sprain occurring.