What is a High Ankle Sprain?
An ankle injury common to athletes is the ankle syndesmosis injury or otherwise known as an high ankle sprain. This type of sprain involves the ligaments above the ankle joint. In high ankle sprain injury, at least one of the ligaments connecting the bottom ends of the tibia and fibula bones usually the syndesmosis ligament is sprained. Recovering from even mild injuries of this type takes at least twice as long as from a typical ankle sprain.
What part of the ankle is involved?
A syndesmosis is a joint where the rough edges of two bones are held together by thick connective ligaments. The connection of the lower leg bones, the tibia and fibula, is a syndesmosis. The tibia is the main bone of the lower leg. The fibula is the small, thin bone that runs down the outer edge of the tibia.
What is the cause of my high ankle sprain?
When an excessive force is applied to your planted foot, a high ankle sprain can occur. Another way to sprain your ankle is an excessive dorsiflexion of the food when your ankle is loaded. This is commonly seen in football tackles.
What are the Symptoms of my High Ankle Sprain?
Usually you will start to feel pain above the ankle and is made worse with outward rotation of the foot. You may also experience pain with walking and may see bruising and swelling above the ankle. The difference of pain in a high ankle sprain and a normal ankle sprain is the site of the pain. Typically the pain is higher up, just above the ankle.
How do I really know if I have a High Ankle Sprain ?
Your ankle ligaments integrity will be assessed. An X-ray or MRI to confirm the diagnosis
How do I treat my High Ankle Sprain ?
Depending how acute your sprain is determines the type of treatment. If it is very acute, ultrasound, stim, kinesio tape will be applied right away to help with the inflammation. Once the inflammation goes down and an MRI is taken, we can then determine how badly you have injured your ankle.
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