Friday, August 04, 2006
iN THE MAiL: SPRAINED ANKLE
Dear Dr. Zhang:
About 10 years ago I sprained my right ankle a few times in the same year.
Recently I had a chiropractic adjustment with a new chiropractor who was not aware of my fragile ankle. As I lay on my back he grabbed me by the ankles and pulled very hard -- that I know is a common chiropractic adjustment -- but my right ankle really hurt afterwards and became swollen. It has been very painful and swollen for a month. I went to a podiatrist who took an x-ray and confirmed that nothing was broken. He taped it up --- but after 2 nights in so much pain around the tape -- I tore the tape off.
What can I do for this swelling and pain?
Thanks - Jill S.
Dear Jill,
Because your x-ray has confirmed that nothing was broken around your ankle, it sounds that you have injured the muscle and ligament (perhaps even the tendon). Ankle sprain is the most common athletic injury.
Because the ankle has very complicated ligamentous structures which stabilize the ankle joints, as well as the tendons and muscles around them, in the case of an ankle sprain it is likely those ligaments, muscles and tendons will be injured. Frequent injuries of this kind can cause ligament laxity. This laxity may make ankle sprain even easier to happen.
It is hard to determine at the beginning of such an injury exactly what the problem is, due to the severe pain the patient has. But most experienced doctors would give a pretty accurate diagnosis about which part of the ligament, tendon or muscle were injured after an initial x-ray confirmation.
Ankle injuries always need urgent treatment to avoid chronic ankle pain, laxity, or arthritis. But ligament and even tendon injuries are very slow to heal due to lack of blood vessels. In my experiences, the best treatment for ankle injury is acupuncture plus moxibustion (a strong heat directly placed next to the needles).
An acupuncturist can directly insert the needles in the injured area to achieve relaxing of the sprained muscle or tendon and the strong heat will help the injured area to heal quickly.
Yours and Dedicated to Your Health,
Dr. Zhang
Dear Dr. Zhang:
About 10 years ago I sprained my right ankle a few times in the same year.
Recently I had a chiropractic adjustment with a new chiropractor who was not aware of my fragile ankle. As I lay on my back he grabbed me by the ankles and pulled very hard -- that I know is a common chiropractic adjustment -- but my right ankle really hurt afterwards and became swollen. It has been very painful and swollen for a month. I went to a podiatrist who took an x-ray and confirmed that nothing was broken. He taped it up --- but after 2 nights in so much pain around the tape -- I tore the tape off.
What can I do for this swelling and pain?
Thanks - Jill S.
Dear Jill,
Because your x-ray has confirmed that nothing was broken around your ankle, it sounds that you have injured the muscle and ligament (perhaps even the tendon). Ankle sprain is the most common athletic injury.
Because the ankle has very complicated ligamentous structures which stabilize the ankle joints, as well as the tendons and muscles around them, in the case of an ankle sprain it is likely those ligaments, muscles and tendons will be injured. Frequent injuries of this kind can cause ligament laxity. This laxity may make ankle sprain even easier to happen.
It is hard to determine at the beginning of such an injury exactly what the problem is, due to the severe pain the patient has. But most experienced doctors would give a pretty accurate diagnosis about which part of the ligament, tendon or muscle were injured after an initial x-ray confirmation.
Ankle injuries always need urgent treatment to avoid chronic ankle pain, laxity, or arthritis. But ligament and even tendon injuries are very slow to heal due to lack of blood vessels. In my experiences, the best treatment for ankle injury is acupuncture plus moxibustion (a strong heat directly placed next to the needles).
An acupuncturist can directly insert the needles in the injured area to achieve relaxing of the sprained muscle or tendon and the strong heat will help the injured area to heal quickly.
Yours and Dedicated to Your Health,
Dr. Zhang
