Swollen Ankles Causes and Treatments:
If a person would likely experience twisting, bumping, or an injury to the ankles, it would usually result to a swelling. This is due to the inflammatory response of the body when there is injury to any of its parts.
The process follows as:
- Inflammation
- Swelling
- Redness
- Pain
- Loss of function
When there is injury, the muscles and tendons that are disrupted and injured compensate and recover from the inflammatory response. Certain hormones are secreted to protect the body from the pain and the other likely complications that will further follow.
Swollen Ankles Home Remedies:
The management of this would depend upon the cause of the swelling of the ankles.
- Apply ice cold compress to the area. Application of cold compress can help ease the pain and at the same time lessen the swelling of the ankles.
- Elevate the ankles to facilitate the blood circulation.
- Avoid putting pressure or putting weight to the affected area.
- Place a wraparound cloth or splint to the area to keep it from swelling and at the same time prevent further injury.
- Take time to massage and perform ankle circular exercises to promote circulation in the area. Be sure to do this slowly. Do not force it when excruciating pain is felt while doing the massage.
- Anti-inflammatory medications may be prescribed by your physician to help reduce ankle swelling.
- Analgesics may also be prescribed to help reduce ankle pain.
Preventing Ankle Swelling:
- Prevention of injury to the area should be observed.
- Being careful of what you do and how you act should be taken into consideration.
- If there is a bone disease or bone weakness, avoid putting strain to the foot.
- When playing especially active contact sports, wear proper shoes that will support the ligaments and the foot itself.
- Drink and take in food rich in calcium to help strengthen your bones.
- When taking calcium supplements, it is best to partner it with vitamin D to facilitate and aid absorption of the nutrients.
- Special consideration is to be taken when dealing with elderly individuals since their bones are more likely to be weak as compared to the younger ones.
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There are several causes that may lead to ankle swelling. The causes can be broadly classified into two major categories,
- Local causes; These include ankle sprain, ankle fracture, insect bite, poor fitting shoes, gout, ankle arthritis, etc
- Systemic causes: These include edema due to pregnancy, nephritis, pre-eclampsia, water retention, congestive cardiac failure, deep vein thrombosis, varicose veins, and lymphatic diseases.
The management will depend upon the underlying condition which has caused in the swelling. However the following measures can help relive the swelling and pain,
- Using an ice pack will help reduce inflammation and has an analgesic effect
- Keep your feet elevated most of the times. While sleeping, keep your feet above the level of the heart to facilitate easy venous drainage
- Wearing tight stockings or doing simple calf muscle exercises will promote venous drainage and reduce the localized swelling in the ankle
- Systemic condition need to be managed separately to reduce swelling. Reducing salt intake will also be considerably beneficial