Here’s What You Should Avoid If you Sprained Your Ankle

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A sprain is an injury to ligaments. Ligaments are tight yet flexible pieces of tissues that bind to adjacent bones. The basic purpose of ligaments is to keep the muscles and joints connected. If two ends of the ligaments stretch too far apart, a sprain occurs. 

Majority of times, athletes sprain their ankles, but it can also happen to people who may be doing their daily household activities. Although, there is no specific time for a sprain to heal, but normally the recovery time is 4-8 weeks. 

                                        (Source: www.pexels.com)

Ankle sprains and its constant reoccurrence can be a frustrating and a troublesome issue. Sprains are even more frustrating for athletes who just simply love to run, hike, and play various sports that demand cutting and twisting motions. These sports mainly include football, hockey, basketball, cricket and climbing. 

What to Avoid With Sprained Ankle?

Here are some of the basic things you should avoid when you sprain your ankle:

• Unnecessary Walking

Walking is good for health. However, if you walk with a sprained ankle, it definitely makes the pain worse. There are myths surrounding this phenomenon that walking may eventually ease the pain, but it is not true. 

Unnecessary walking harms your stretched or torn ligaments and may even extend the recovery time. It is highly recommended that you avoid walking with a sprained ankle and try not to overdo or get ahead of yourself. 

It has been repeatedly observed that walking too soon with a sore ankle can lead to pain, re-injury, and more chronic conditions like arthritis. 

• Don’t Take the Injury Lightly

People normally don’t pay much heed to an ankle sprain, they find it a routine pain, and believe that with the passage of time the pain will go away by itself. This approach is damaging, and has severe consequences in the long run. Your ankle is the base of your foot and should never be taken lightly. You should get it checked with a doctor immediately, before it gets worse. 

• Don’t Be Careless With Your Balance

The most obvious way to avoid an ankle sprain is to balance your body carefully. You should be well versed with at least the basic functions of body balancing.

Sighting is the key when it comes to the balance of body, as your body moves on the basis of anticipation and expectation from what it sees. 

There are different methods used commonly to improve balance. Extreme cases can be cured through the help of physical therapies or vestibular conditions. 

• Don’t Weaken Your Core 

You should certainly avoid all the course actions that put pressure on your core. Imagine running abruptly and lightly in various directions with a weak core, it’s almost impossible to even think of. If you lack the solidity in your core, your body moves due to the absence of hip and lower body control. 

• Cut Down On Progressive Activities

It is never a good idea to opt for an activity, like hiking without actually preparing your body for it. If an activity is coming up, then it is highly imperative for you to prepare your body.

It is worth pointing out that it doesn’t mean to go all out for full massive body training, but rather indulge into the healthy habit of regular exercise and smartly mimic your desired activity.

You should keep in mind that muscle memory is a big factor in ankle sprains, and regular practice of the movement or sport you participate in is a good way to prevent minor and major injuries. 

• Don’t Hesitate to Use Ankle Braces

There is no point in being reluctant when it comes to using ankle braces. These braces are of tremendous utility as they provide additional support to the ankle which recovers the sprain. 

The Bottom Line

Sprained ankles are quite a common injury these days. It is human nature that once someone suffers from an ankle sprain, they want to rush themselves out of it by doing all sorts of crazy things. There are a few things you should avoid in a bid to safeguard your ankle from further damage, some of them are mentioned above.

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