Something You May Not Have Considered For Ankle Sprain Treatment

Have you ever gone hiking and mistakenly stepped on ground that was cracked, twisting your ankle? If so, you know that making it back home took far too long with every step more excruciating than the next.

Or have you ever jumped down from a higher step and landed on your foot in a way that twisted it? That’s another good way to develop an ankle sprain.

What can you do for ankle sprain treatment on your own, and when should you see a doctor? What are the options?

How Pain Plays a Role in Ankle Sprain Treatment

The first thing you’ll notice with an ankle sprain is the pain. The only reason why we get pain in our body is because something is wrong; the pain fibers won’t fire unless something triggers them – torn tissue, inflammation, increased pressure, nerve irritation, or cold / heat. The pain will worsen temporarily as the body tries to heal itself.

This occurs because once the message that there is tissue damage is sent to the brain, the brain sends a message to the immune system to send in the armies of white blood cells to clean up the damage. All this creates temporary inflammation, which sets off the pain signals to a greater level. That’s why you naturally slow down – in order to cooperate with your body’s healing processes.

At this point in the healing process, ice packs will slow down the added circulation to the area, numb the pain, and allow you a reprieve. The proper way to use ice packs is to put a few towels down over the point of pain on your ankle, and then place the ice pack on top. This allows the cold to diffuse slowly into the ankle instead of shocking the area suddenly. It also prevents you from developing frostbite.

High Level Cold Packs

Ankle sprain treatment for athletes involves high level cryotherapy treatments. The athlete will sit in a chair and the cryotherapy assistant will take what looks like a hose device and aim it at the ankle. What comes out is very cold air. It’s an easier way to do the cold pack treatment although it does take more time to drive to the center that has the device. Sports teams such as the NFL and NBA teams will have these high level devices in their training room for their athletes.

This tool is one of the secrets of how the athletes heal so quickly and are back on the field after an ankle sprain. They use the treatment every few hours; whenever an area is exceptionally cold, the body has to rush in new circulation to the area. The new rush of circulation brings in oxygen and healing nutrients and within about 10 days, the athlete may be ready for the field. Of course, the severity of the ankle sprain is the final determinable variable for the healing time.

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