Ankle Sprains and Pain

Definition:
An ankle sprain is the most common injury to the ankle and the long term consequences of an ankle sprain is a common cause of 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 – in the sprained ankle the most common damage is done to the talo-fibula ligament (if the ankle sprain is worse, the calcaneo-fibula ligament can also be damaged) – sometimes the tendons also get damaged.

Sprained ankle causes:
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 know where your ankle is, the muscles will not be able to prevent the ankle sprain)
* some feet 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)