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Does Your Ankle Seem A Little Twisted?

Does Your Ankle Seem A Little Twisted? post image

I was taking my daily walk, as usual, and happened to mis-place a step.  My lovely ankle, with this slight mis-placement, collapsed and twisted to the side.  Instant pain, instant swelling and a welcoming into a sprained ankle.

This tends to be a problem for athletes and anyone who is in charge of mobility and misplaces a step.  The only thing that can be done if you twist or sprain your ankle is to ice it so the swelling goes down.

  This should always be combined with elevating the foot, as the blood flow to the area that is swollen will be overcompensated as your body’s natural protection system.  It’s also good to wrap the ankle if you are planning on walking somewhere.  Of course, don’t do like I did by trying to play okay and continuing to walk.  Actually, you are not supposed to use your ankle in the same way for at least three to six weeks, depending on the severity of the sprain.

The ankle spraining phenomena is one that has a complete link to how your body works.  The ankle is incredibly important to the mobility of your body, which is probably why – if it is a little out of balance – it overreacts.

Your ankle contains a major hinge that allows your legs to move forward when walking.  This starts with your skeletal system, which has cartilage in the area.  The cartilage connects as a hinge, which is what gives your ankle the well rounded range of motion on the foot and the legs. Unlike other types of hinges, this one provides you with a circular range of motion that can move in almost any way possible.

The ankle also contains tendons that connect the skeletal system to the legs.  This is what allows mobility to occur.  The skeletal system controls the motion that is occurring, and the muscles react by following the range of motion that the skeletal system has.

Typically, if you have a sprained ankle, it is because the tendon is unable to move in an effective way to allow the muscle to move forward.  Instead, it over compensates to complete the range of motion and stops short of the range that is occurring or bends to the side as an over reaction.  To compensate, the muscle and tendons snap out of place, which then causes the swelling to try to protect the area that has become imbalanced.

Of course, knowing this won’t stop the pain of the stretched, pulled and strained tendon.  Only the ice with elevation of the foot will.  Or, you could take my new advice and watch how you walk.

{ 1 comment… add one }
  • mattresses June 14, 2009, 5:43 am

    I’ve had my share of sprained ankles in the past, either from sports or from hiking. I have found that shoe inserts help me a lot to avoid them. I think some of the sprains, and also strains to the Achilles, can happen when the foot is not aligned/supported properly during exercise.

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