http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/health/28brod.html?_r=2
No Quick Fix
I now know that I was lucky not to have ended up with a chronically unstable ankle after either of these episodes. Ankle sprains are so often mistreated or not treated at all, experts say, that they have the highest recurrence rate of any joint injury and often result in chronic symptoms.
Last month at the National Athletic Trainers’ Association annual meeting in San Antonio, experts responsible for the ankle health of college athletes reviewed research evidence for various methods believed to help prevent recurrent ankle sprains. I suspect that few athletes, whether professional, intramural or recreational, will like the bottom line: ankle sprains usually need more rehabilitation and take longer to heal than most people allow for.
Undertreatment means that “30 to 40 percent of people with simple ankle sprains develop chronic long-term joint pathology,” said one presenter, Tricia Hubbard, the undergraduate athletic training director at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte.
“Most research is showing that with any ankle sprain, the ankle should be immediately immobilized to protect the joint and allow the injured ligaments to heal,” Dr. Hubbard said in an interview. “At least a week for the simplest sprain, 10 to 14 days for a moderate sprain and four to six weeks for more severe sprains.”
Yet coaches, like most people, she said, “tend to think, ‘It’s just a sprain, you’ll be fine’ and they tape the ankle and ice it and the player is back on the field in a few days.”
Of course, players want to play, whatever their level, so they rarely question the wisdom of such a quick turnaround.
“Lack of pain is not always the best indicator that it’s safe to resume activity,” Dr. Hubbard said. “The pain of an ankle sprain can subside fairly quickly, but that does not mean the injured ligaments have healed.”
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For the entire article see the URL below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/health/28brod.html?_r=2
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