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How to Strengthen Your Ankle After a Sprain

An ankle sprain should be immediately treated with the “rice” technique. Rest, ice, compression and elevation to help avoid further injury to the ankle. After a few days of this treatment, however, the ankle is usually recovered enough to begin strengthening efforts. Here’s how to strengthen a sprained ankle in the days soon after the sprain occurs.

Adjust Your Diet

Frist, adjust your food and beverage intake so that your body gets all the nutrients it needs to heal the ankle. Avoid alcoholic drinks, as they delay the healing process of most injuries. Meanwhile, increase your intake of calcium, phosphorus, vitamin C and vitamin D. All of these nutrients will help your body recover more quickly.

Some good foods to eat that have many of these nutrients include the following:

  • dairy products
  • lean red meat
  • nut and seeds
  • salmon and sardines
  • dark green vegetables

Push Against Furniture

Second, start strengthening exercises by using a piece of furniture to do some basic resistance training. A couch, love seat or large armchair works well.

Place the injured foot alongside the furniture, and point the toes outward and upward. Press with your foot against the furniture like this for 10 seconds. Then, release and repeat with the toes pointed inward and downward.

Use a Resistance Band

Third, move to a resistance band if the exercises with the furniture go well. A resistance band is used in the same fashion, by pushing against it for 10 seconds at a time and then changing positions. You can use a resistance band in several ways:

  • place it against the bottom of your foot and push down
  • place it on the top of your foot and push up
  • place it on either side of your foot and push against the band

These latter two exercises require affixing the resistance band to a post, chair leg, doorway or other object that will hold it in place. Alternatively, a friend can hold it for you.

Seek Medical Treatment

Ultimately, the fastest way to strengthen an ankle sprain is to seek treatment from a medical professional. If you’ve sprained your ankle, make an appointment with someone who can assess the ankle and prescribe a personalized strengthening regimen.

Injuries Rise During the Holidays – Here’s What to Watch For

We’re heading into the most festive time of year, but it is also one of the most common times for new patients to visit because of a holiday related injury of pain. What makes the holidays so accident and injury prone? Travel to see family in colder climates, new and exciting gifts that require physical activity and even an increase in local activity make injuries more common during the holiday season.

Common Injuries During the Holiday Season

Holiday Travel

Travel itself isn’t likely to harm you, but if you travel to a colder climate and are not used to walking and driving on snow and ice, risk of injury is increased. Even people who live in these cold areas experience thousands of injuries each year from slipping and falling on snow and ice. Back, hip and knee injuries often result after a seasonal fall. Also, sitting for long periods of time can put strain on your back and cause pain or discomfort.

Holiday Gifts and Entertaining

The very gifts designed to delight kids and young teens can lead to a visit to an orthopedic specialist. Skates, bikes, scooters and even sports equipment could result in a lasting injury. Many of these are minor, but some leave behind lasting knee, back or limb pain that needs attention from a doctor to properly heal. Just pulling the turkey from the oven can lead to a burn that sends you to the emergency room for treatment.

Shopping

It’s not the shopping itself, but rather the increase in traffic and activity around shopping destinations that increases the risk of auto accidents and collisions. If you are involved in an accident, you could face a lengthy recovery.

Contact A Specialist

Almost all the holiday related issues are injuries from falls; whether you slip on an unexpected patch of ice or you fall off your new bicycle, you could need help from a specialist. If you have been injured and the pain is simply not going away, contact us for help. Our team of orthopedic specialists is waiting to help when you need us most.

How to Treat a Broken Ankle

Breaking a bone in your foot or ankle is a serious condition. Even if a bone is not fully broken, sprains, fractures and tears can still be incredibly painful, limiting your mobility. Outlined below are the ways to treat and recover from foot injuries such as a broken ankle.

Receive Medical Attention

If you are have suffered a foot or ankle injury that is serious enough to limit your mobility, it’s important that you receive professional medical attention as quickly as possible. These injuries don’t often heal well on their own, and they may require surgery and/or physical therapy to treat. You may also benefit from pain medications that you will need a prescription to acquire.

If you have recently suffered a broken ankle or other serious foot injury, we urge you to contact our office today to schedule an appointment.

Rest and Manage the Pain

After visiting with one of our orthopedic specialists, you will be provided with a plan for treating the pain and resting your injury so that it is allowed to heal. This plan may include things such as bed rest, controlling the swelling with ice packs, managing the pain responsibly with medications, and limiting your mobility as much as possible.

Recovering from a foot or ankle injury often takes time and effort, so it’s important to be patient. However, both the surgical procedures at Southeast Orthopedic Specialists as well as the physical therapy that follows them are designed to speed up this recovery time as much as possible. By seeking professional help, limiting your mobility and following procedures that allow your injury to heal, you should be able to achieve a full recovery whether you are dealing with anything from a minor sprain to a broken ankle.

How long does it take to heal from a broken ankle?

If you have a broken ankle, you’re probably wondering how long it will be before it’s healed. Broken ankles can range from severely impeding your ability to walk, to being barely noticeable, depending on where the fracture occurred and how severe it is.

How many bones are in the ankle?

The ankle joint is comprised of three bones, which are the tibia, fibula and talus. The tibia is the commonly referred to as the shin. The fibula is the small bone that comes down from the lower leg, and is parallel to the tibia. The talus is a smaller bone between the tibia and the fibula.

What causes an ankle to break?

It’s fairly easy to break your ankle, especially if your bones are weak or you’re older. Breaks can occur from twists and falls, trauma (something falling on the ankle), unnatural twisting or rotating. Often, ankles break during a sports accident, but they can also break from something as innocuous as tripping on a sidewalk or missing a step.

How do I know if my ankle is broken?

The symptoms of a broken ankle include pain, swelling, redness and an inability to bear weight. Of course, if you have incurred an ankle injury, the only definitive way to tell if the bone is fractured is to visit an orthopedic doctor in Jacksonville. The orthopedic doctor will examine and X-ray or do a scan of the ankle to determine the extent of injury and treatment options.

How are broken ankles treated?

It depends on the situation, but treatment options include surgery, cast, pins, crutches and/or wheelchair during recovery. Pain medication may be prescribed as needed.

How long will it take to heal from a broken ankle?

Depending on the nature of the fracture and your body’s ability to heal, you can anticipate a recovery period of six weeks. Many variables contribute to the recovery window, however, such as your adherence to the doctor’s instructions and your overall health. During recovery, your doctor may need to take progressive X-rays or do stress tests to monitor the healing process.

If you suspect that your ankle might be broken, or your ankle joint simply doesn’t seem right after an accident, please seek the help of an orthopedic doctor. Contact us today to make an appointment for a consultation.

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