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Suggest Treatment For Pain And Swelling In Ankle After An Accident

Posted on Fri, 22 Jan 2016

Question: Hello,

My brother's foot twisted inwards while playing football today morning. His ankle is now swollen. He has no pain in the ankle unless he puts any pressure on his foot. He is now wearing a crepe bandage. We got an X-Ray done, and there is no bone fracture. We suspect it could be a ligament tear. Could you recommend what should we do in this case?

Thanks
Adisha Aggarwal

Answered by Dr. Aashish Raghu (34 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Rest, ice, elevation, medication, non weight bearing

Detailed Answer:
Hi Adisha

Thanks for the query.

He has experienced an ankle sprain which will usually involve overstretching of the foot and ankle ligaments or sometimes a tear.

Kindly keep the foot and ankle wrapped in snugly fitting crepe bandage and keep the limb elevated. Apply ice twice a day for relief. Avoid bearing weight for atleast 2 weeks or minimal weight bearing. Take pain killers like Tablet Ibuprofen 400mg twice a day for 5 days after meals.

Plaster can be applied if severe sprain and will do good to protect the foot and help in healing of ligaments which will take about 4 to 6 weeks.

Use Basketball sports shoes to walk in future as this has high supports that protect the ankle.

I hope I have answered your query.

I will be available to answer your follow up queries.

Regards,

Dr. Aashish Raghu

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj

Follow up: Dr. Aashish Raghu (30 minutes later)

Thanks a lot Dr. Aashish. Could you please also help us understand how can we validate if this is a severe ligament sprain or non severe? How do we make the decision of getting a plaster or not?

Thanks
Adisha

Answered by Dr. Aashish Raghu (7 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Plaster on the back is an excellent idea to immobiliser the foot and ankle

Detailed Answer:
Usually increased pain on inverting the foot will cause severe pain if there is ligament injury. To be able to quantify if it is complete or partial tear can be done only on MRI scan.

Plaster on the back side is an excellent idea to avoid moron of the ankle or foot. Do wear it for atleast 2 weeks with protected weight bearing. Give it time to heal so that in the future, further ankle sprains do not occur due to the weakness of the ligaments.

Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj