I know people who have never completely recovered from their initial ankle sprain because they never had the ankle looked at by a professional.

Unfortunately for some, an ankle sprain will lead to fear avoidance behavior. Meaning, they are overly cautious how they use their ankle, because of fear that the same injury will occur. This is typically a person that has never sought ankle sprain treatment in Denver and was never properly rehabilitated.

Ankle sprains are common, and they do not, and should not prevent you from returning to your sport or recreational activity. Mild and moderate sprains can be treated very successfully by the chiropractor. I’ve had great results with treating mild and moderate sprains. Any severe sprains, where there is absolute loss of any movement, should be referred to the orthopedist. Some sprains can also have underlying fractures, so it is imperative that a doctor of chiropractic, or any other specialist evaluate your ankle as soon as possible.

After a thorough evaluation, ankle sprain treatment in Denver could consist of any number of therapies. One therapy in particular, for ankle inversion / eversion sprains, is extremity joint manipulation. I find adjusting the ankle to be quite effective at helping to restore nomal function to an injured and dysfunctional area. When an injury occurs to a joint, the muscles surrounding the joint will splint and alter the motion of the joint. I have found that restoring the motion of the joints through joint manipulation, profoundly speeds up the healing time.

After getting the ankle joints and surrounding joints to a state where they are working better, I typically use kinesio tape to help with drainage of the inflammatory products. If the sprain happens during a sporting event where the athlete needs to participate, I will adjust and then use athletic tape and a local topical analgesic to get them back in play. So, timing and circumstances will also dictate the type of treatment given.[/vc_column_text]

Other treatments in the early and late stages of the sprain include:

* Protect with athletic tape, removable air cast, loose lace up support
* Rest – possible use of crutches, but wean ASAP
* Ice – 20 min on, 1 hour intervals to control inflammation, this is most important for the first 24 hours
* Compression – elastic wrap or sleeve
* Elevate – helps control swelling
* Pain free active range of motion (can use slushy bucket), tilt your ankle up and down and side to side, the movement will help control swelling, will help prevent muscle splinting, and will help get blood to the area (we heal with what’s in our blood – so eat healthy!)
* Cold Laser – Speeds up Mitochondrial ATP production
* Pulsed ultra sound indirect in cold water
* Electrotherapy – helps with pain control and will also indirectly decrease muscle splinting
* Kinesio tape – help with inflammatory fluid drainage, will also help restore normal muscle tension, restore appropriate nervous system feedback to help improve proprioception (that is how your body knows where it is in space)
* Osseous Manipulation – Get adjusted! It is a very safe procedure, and it feels great – give it a shot! This will dramatically affect alignment of your joints, help allow correct muscle tension on the joints, and wil help restore normal muscle receptor feedback ( golgi tendons and muscle spindles ) to your brain.
* Anti – inflam nutrition – Vitamin C @ 1,000mg to 3,000mg per day, 1,500 mg to 3,000mg of EPA/DHA, Bromalain at 2,000mg per day.
* Alternate heat and ice after the first two days of injury
* Isometric exercises – contract the different muscle of the foot without moving your foot
* Continue weight bearing walking
* Running in swimming pool
* Ice after exercise
* Toe raises – flat ground – progress to step
* Balance drills – wobble board, rocker board, balance sandals ( this is a huge area and lots of different exercises can be done with theses tools ) doing these drills will help you regain your confidence that your ankle is back to normal.
* late rehab includes more balance and coordination drills

So, there is a ton of therapies that can be done to fix your once new ankle. This information is no substitute for a visit to the doctor. Go to a pro and get yourself looked at for ankle sprain treatment in Denver, you will be glad you did. Your return to the living will be much quicker. I gurantee it!

Dr. Trent Artichoker MS, DC

Denver Chiropractic, LLC
3890 Federal Blvd Unit 1
Denver, CO 80211

303-455-2225