It’s likely you wouldn’t try to ignore an ankle injury that involves a fracture. After all, these types of injuries can make it difficult to bear weight and function normally. However, even if an ankle injury seems manageable — such as a minor sprain — it should still receive professional care.
When you sprain your ankle, you overstretch or tear the ligaments supporting the joint. Like fractures, these ankle injuries can vary in severity, but they can all cause ongoing issues without proper treatment.
Our team at Advanced Care Foot and Ankle in Corona and Ontario, California, specializes in diagnosing and treating ankle injuries so you can avoid recurring problems in the future. If you hurt your ankle, here’s why you shouldn’t ignore it.
Technically, all injuries can cause problems. However, injuries that involve the ankle can be especially problematic, because they involve ligaments and a joint that’s associated with weight-bearing and walking.
Your ankle joint forms where your shin bones (tibia and fibula) attach to your foot (talus). Together, they create a hinged synovial joint that gets support from three main sets of ligaments. Specifically, your ankle ligaments work to:
Injuring these ligaments or the ankle bones themselves can put the entire joint at risk.
Even a mild sprain stretches your ankle ligament, compromising the integrity of the tissue. In more simple terms, these injuries can weaken your ankle, which can increase your chances for reinjury and chronic pain.
Signs of an ankle injury include:
It’s important to note that these symptoms can indicate a sprain or fracture, so getting a diagnosis is important to ensure that you get proper treatment for your ankle injury.
After diagnosing your injury, we can outline a personalized treatment strategy. As you might imagine, this can vary significantly depending on the severity of the injury.
The most common treatments for ankle injuries include:
Based on your injury and treatment, we also provide recommendations on how to avoid reinjury in the future.
Did you hurt your ankle, or are you suffering recurring injuries? We can give you the care you need. To learn more, book an appointment online or over the phone with Advanced Care Foot and Ankle today.