Ankle sprain is a very common injury, commonly known as “broken foot”. In daily life, travel, sports and other activities, especially wearing high heels or thick-soled shoes, ankle sprains are more likely to occur.
Why does the ankle joint always twist inward when you break your foot?
Anatomically speaking, the ankle joint consists of three bones: the tibia, fibula and talus. The outer ankle is long and has a strong force to prevent the talus from turning outward; the inner ankle is short and has a weak force to prevent the talus from turning inward. The angle of normal ankle inversion is much larger than the angle of valgus, so when you break your foot, the foot is usually twisted inward and the injured part is the outer ankle.
What should I do after breaking my foot?
After a broken foot, the small blood vessels in the ankle joint rupture and bleed, together with the exuded tissue fluid, forming a hematoma. Many people are used to rubbing, hot compressing, washing and forcing activities immediately after the injury, which will inevitably accelerate the bleeding and exudation while rubbing away part of the blood stasis, and even aggravate the rupture of the blood vessels to form a bigger hematoma, making the injured part swollen and more painful. So how to deal with a broken foot is the right thing to do?
The treatment of “rice therapy” is actually a four-step process, abbreviated as RICE according to its first letter in English, which is actually rest, ice, immobilization and elevation.
1. R stands for rest: immediately stop walking, sports or labor activities.
2, I stands for ice: should be carried out as soon as possible after the injury, the method is to take cold water-soaked towel on the injury, about 3 minutes to change a time. Also available ice, ice water in a plastic bag for direct external teaching, 20 to 30 minutes each time. Make capillary constriction to reduce bleeding or exudation, thus reducing swelling and pain.
3.C Representative pressure cloth bandage: while applying cold compress or after applying cold compress, bandages, triangular towel and other cloths can be used to wrap around the ankle joint with pressure. You can also use several wide adhesive tapes to fix the ankle joint from the bottom of the foot to the back of the foot to reduce the mobility. Whether wrapping or taping should make the injured outer ankle form a foot valgus or the injured inner ankle form a foot valgus, so as to reduce the pull on the injured collateral ligament or muscle, thus reducing or avoiding aggravating the injury.
4.E Representative elevation: take a sitting or lying position, at the same time, use pillows, bedding or clothing, backpack, etc. to elevate the foot to facilitate venous return, so as to reduce swelling and pain.
How to prevent the next broken foot after a history of broken foot?
The chance of re-injury after a broken foot is 40-70% higher than before. Habitual broken feet are mainly caused by frequent sprains due to incomplete treatment of the previous one, especially when the injured muscles and ligaments are not fully recovered and then re-injured due to excessive force, causing the ligaments not to play a proper protective role. For people who love sports, this is a big headache, because it often makes the thrill of sports come to an abrupt end. However, proper treatment, rehabilitation exercises and the use of protective gear after an injury can reduce the risk of re-injury. Here are some useful rehabilitative training methods.
Mobility training: Helps restore normal mobility to the ankle joint.
Dorsiflexion of the ankle joint: Sit with the straight leg, keep the foot perpendicular to the supporting surface and flex the ankle joint toward the trunk. Practice for the first 3 to 10 days after injury.
II. Flexibility training.
Gastrocnemius extension training: sit with straight legs, fold the towel over the root of the bunion of the foot. Slowly pull the towel back to bend the ankle joint until the upper part of the gastrocnemius muscle is extended (tense).
Heel extension training: When the swelling subsides and you can stand, place the injured foot behind the normal foot with the toes facing forward. Keep the heel off the ground. Slowly flex the knee joint of the injured leg until the heel is extended (tense).
Muscle training: Strong leg muscles can assist the ligaments to keep the ankle joint stable.
Frequency: 5 to 7 days per week, 20 repetitions of each exercise per day.
1, lateral tibial muscle strength training: foot flat on the floor, ankle lateral leaning on the wall or bookcase, foot force to the lateral push. Insist on 5 seconds.
2, medial tibial muscle strength training: foot flat on the floor, the affected foot placed on the fixed end of the bandage, push hard to the medial side. Adhere to 5 seconds.
3, tibialis anterior muscle strength training: the normal foot heel on the back of the injured foot. Normal foot downward pressure while the injured foot cocked upward push (that is, the heel does not leave the ground). Opposition for 5 seconds.
Balance training: ankle sprains reduce the balance of the injured foot, which can easily cause re-traumatization. Therefore, once the pain is no longer felt when standing, you can try to balance training.
Method: Use the injured foot to maintain balance for 10 to 30 seconds, at least practice every day.
Standard: each action can be held for 60 seconds, you can practice the next action.
Action 1: arms flat to the side of the body, eyes open.
Action 2: arms crossed in front of the chest, eyes open.
Action 3: Arms raised to the side of the body, eyes closed.
Action 4: Arms crossed in front of chest, eyes closed.
To prevent habitual ankle sprains in sports, the first thing you should do is to minimize the risk of ankle sprains. The first thing is to warm up sufficiently so that the ankle joints and ligaments are sufficiently active and stretched to enter the sport as soon as possible. In the usual exercise, you should pay attention to the exercise of quadriceps and other thigh muscles and calf muscles, ankle sprain is also related to the lack of development of these muscle groups, muscle stability and protection. When you exercise again after your ankle has recovered, be sure to wear ankle pads and other protective gear.