Symptoms of ankle ligament injury and daily maintenance methods

The ligaments of the foot and ankle joint, mainly the anterior tibiofibular ligament and the posterior tibiofibular ligament.

The medial side of the ankle joint is the peri-tibial ligament, tibial root ligament and tibial distance ligament between the tibia, navicular bone, talus, and heel bone, which together form a roughly triangular structure, also called the triangular ligament.

Symptoms of ankle ligament injury

The clinical symptoms of ankle ligament strains are mainly as follows.

Pain, after ankle ligament strain, there will be persistent pain symptoms at the site of ligament injury, usually for medial collateral ligament or lateral collateral ligament injury. The painful symptoms will be aggravated in the inversion position or valgus as stress, and walking with weight will also aggravate the painful symptoms.

Swelling, the ankle ligament strain will have localized bleeding, and vascular permeability will also increase significantly, so soft tissue tension will be significantly increased and swelling symptoms will be more obvious.

The swelling and pain of the ankle joint can lead to limitation of ankle joint movement, mainly flexion, and extension, inversion, and rotation of the ankle joint.

Treatment and recovery of ankle ligament injury

After an ankle ligament injury, the affected limb should be elevated and immobilized to avoid further soft tissue damage caused by the activity. If the condition is mild and the pain is tolerable, you can apply ice and topical medication within 48 hours of the injury. If the pain is severe, the patient should be kept under restraint and promptly checked for tendon rupture or damage to important tissues such as bones.

Common clinical methods to promote recovery include.

Early stage: ice can be applied within 48 hours after injury to effectively relieve local pain and swelling, and hot compresses can be applied after 48 hours to promote dissipation of bruising; patients with severe symptoms can use bandages, braces, or casts to break the affected ankle joint and seek medical attention promptly; medications can also be taken under medical supervision.

Mid-term: physical therapy such as acupuncture and red and blue light irradiation can be used to promote the dissipation of bruising and relieve pain and promote recovery; those with serious conditions or unsatisfactory results of conservative treatment and still have symptoms after 3-6 months of treatment can choose surgical treatment to help the recovery of the injury. If pain and swelling are not obvious, light activity exercises can be performed, but care needs to be taken to control the initial range of motion. With symptom tolerance, progressive increase in joint activity and peripheral muscle strength training, such as ankle dorsiflexion and plantarflexion motion training, toe walking, static balance training, etc., may be performed to promote recovery.

Later stage: After being able to get out of bed, normal activities need to be resumed during this period. Appropriate walking and brisk walking are recommended, followed by jogging on a flat surface wearing comfortable sports shoes, and walking with an appropriate increase in curves and sharp stop-and-turn running can be performed to promote ligament recovery.

The above is the introduction and maintenance methods for how to care for ankle ligament injury daily. When patients have ankle ligament injury, they can be relieved by the above ways of care, which are helpful to the recovery of the disease.

In addition, in ordinary life, we should pay attention not to casually massage the injury site to prevent the condition from aggravating bleeding. When resting, the affected limb can be properly elevated, which can effectively reduce swelling and prevent blood reflux.