Sprained AnkleBoth sprained ankle and broken ankle are painful and can result from the same injuries. However, these two different fractures are treated differently.
A person with sprained ankle can walk with a foot, but carefully & with pain. Sprained ankles are injuries that occur when you twist, turn or roll your ankles in awkward way, especially during physical activities.
Once it happen, this can tear and stretch the bands of ligaments which help to hold together the bones of your ankle. Ligaments help to stabilize your joints and preventing from excessive movement.
When ligaments around the ankles are push and past these limitations, it can cause sprain. This fracture, commonly involves injury to the ligament outside the ankle. You might have sprained ankle when you notice these symptoms in your ankle.
Common Symptoms of Ankle Sprain
Stiffness
Pain
Skin discoloration
Tenderness
Swelling
Bruising
The ankles can sustain a lot of different injuries. That’s why it’s very necessary to see a doctor when you experience such problems in your ankle. A doctor can figure out whether your injury is something severe or a sprain. Doctors can perform physical examination in order to find out which ligaments are torn. In the exam, a doctor will move the ankle joints in different ways in order to check the range of action.
Imaging tests, like X-ray is also perform to ruled out the bone fracture. When the doctor suspect bone chipping, damage the ankle joints surface and serious injuries to ligaments, an MRI may also be done. The MRI exam uses strong magnetic and radio waves in order to make detailed image of one’s’ body, allowing the doctor to create proper diagnosis for your sprained ankle.
Sprained ankles are injuries where there’s disruption and tear of ligaments. While broken ankle is any crack, chip and break in your ankle bone. This fracture of your ankle does not only affect the bone ankle but, including the talus, fibula and tibia. Broken ankle is typically due to stressing your ankle joint.
Ligaments may even tear down and the ankle get fractured. This type of ankle fracture can occur because of rolling in and out of the ankle. Apart from that, twisting it side by side, joint extending or extreme flexing are also other reasons of broken ankle.
Common Symptoms of Broken Ankle
Numbness
Swelling
Deformities of bones surrounding the ankle
Bruising
Pain
Pale tissues
One of the most important thing to do when you are experiencing these signs and symptoms, is to consult a doctor. Broken ankles are more serious than sprained ankles and they need to be treated immediately. A physical examination and X-ray are needed to be done in diagnosing a broken ankle.
Treatment may also include taping, booting, casting, wrapping, or surgery. The recovery period for those patients with broken ankles commonly last for four to eight weeks, allowing the ankle bones to be heal. Several months are needed to regain the full movements of ankle joints. But those patients with severe fractures that require surgery make take lots of time to be heal.
