After slipping and falling on another’s property, you sustained a few injuries. Your doctor diagnosed you with a sprained ankle, and you want to know what to expect for your recovery.
Boston Medical Center explains non-surgical treatment options for sprained ankles. Learn how to recover from your personal injury and build your case.
Immobilization
After receiving your diagnosis, protect your ankle and keep it immobile. Depending on your sprain severity, you may need a stirrup-type brace, short leg cast, cast-brace or cast boot to support your recovery.
Crutches
Expect to experience inflammation and pain for two to three days. Your physician may recommend using crutches to get around.
Physical therapy
Medical care providers use various physical therapy techniques to treat sprained ankles. Once your swelling and pain subside, you may engage in strengthening exercises with a physical therapist. Exercises target the muscles and tendons in your foot and leg. If land-based exercises become too painful, your medical team may recommend water exercises.
Controlled and range-of-motion movements help combat stiffness. To keep you from experiencing another sprain or an unstable ankle, a physical therapist or your doctor could recommend balance training. An example of a balance training exercise is standing on your sprained foot while lifting your other foot and closing your eyes.
Once your ankle heals to where you no longer experience pain, you may engage in agility and endurance exercises. An example is running in incrementally smaller figure eights.
Treatment options could affect your personal injury case. You deserve to know what path to take to make a full recovery.