Helping Your Athlete Get Back in the Game After an Ankle Injury

Getting out and getting your exercise is great for the body, and athletes go the extra mile with training and pushing themselves in their respective sports. However, this also leads to lots of injuries, with 8.6 million injuries in sports annually and 3.5 million of that number child athletes. Injuries to the ankle are a common way many athletes get hurt; depending on how bad it is, it can be weeks or months before being well enough to play.

Proper recovery is essential to maintaining the full function of your ankle and avoiding injury again. To help you through the rehabilitation process, we offer several methods to help you build stability, strength, and flexibility in your ankle so you can run and perform with confidence and speed.

Athletes in the Fort Worth and Weatherford, Texas, areas who want to mend their ankles and return to active sports can find help from Drs. Glen Beede, Gary Jaryga, and the dedicated staff at Trinity Foot and Ankle Specialists.

Common reasons for ankle injuries

There are a lot of injuries that can happen to your ankles, like:

Sprains and strains

Stretching or tearing ligaments or tendons can cause sprains or strains, leading to a complete tear.

Achilles tendonitis

This tendon connects the muscle in your lower leg to the heel of your foot, and further damage can also cause the tissue to tear or degenerate.

Bursitis

Bursae are the sacs of fluid in your joints. When they are irritated, they swell and become painful.

Fractures

Damage to the calcaneus (heel bone), tibia, fibula, or talus can lead to mild or severe fractures, which are often painful, swollen, and bruised.

Pinched nerve

The sural nerve is located just below the skin on the calf. It provides sensation and allows you to detect foot position, vibration, and temperature. Compression of this nerve can be very painful.

The path to recovery

The methods of getting your ankle repaired and rehabilitated depend on the extent of the damage and include solutions like:

The RICE method

This acronym stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation, where you rest the body, use a cold compress to lower swelling, keep it immobile with a bandage or wrap, and elevate it to reduce pain and inflammation.

Anti-inflammatory medications

These can be either over-the-counter or prescription drugs that help to lower swelling and pain.

Pain relief

If the pain is bad enough, you can be prescribed various medications for relief.

Immobilization

A splint, cast, or brace can keep the ankle immobile and allow it to heal without risking further damage.

Surgery

If other conservative methods are ineffective, surgeries can be performed to repair ligaments, tendons, and muscles. If the bone is damaged enough, ankle replacement is an option.

Physical therapy

As your injury is healing, you’ll need to restore your full range of motion, flexibility, strength, and stability, and there are many different forms of physical therapy to help with that.

No one wants to be injured and taken out of the game, so make an appointment with Drs. Beede, Jaryga, and their team at Trinity Foot & Ankle Specialists will start the road to recovery today.