General Foot Care Information

Ankle and lower limb strains and sprains

Sprains and strains of the ankle and lower limbs are common, and may result from sporting injuries or just from normal daily activity. Some injuries can be prevented while others need treatment. Often early treatment from a trained Podiatrist can result in a quicker recovery. Common injuries usually involve soft tissue, muscles, tendons or ligaments.

Ankle and knee sprains are caused by stretching or tearing the ligaments.
Ligaments join bones to other bones to help form joints and are usually torn or stretched by your ankle or knee being wrenched or twisted.

Ankle and lower limb strains are from tearing or stretching the muscles or
tendons. Muscles allow the body to move while tendons hold the muscles to the bone.  There are 102 ligaments, 46 muscles and 26 bones in your knees and feet. In our life time, we will have walked around the world four times.

First Aid
1. Rest and support the injured part to stop and further damage
2. Ice the injury until area becomes numb or skin becomes pink (about 20mins)
3. Compression—apply a firm compression bandage to help keep the
swelling down. Keep bandaged while there is still swelling, taking care not to bandage too tightly. Bandage well above and below the injured area.
4. Elevate the injury to level with the heart to help reduce the swelling. This is most important in the first 24-48hrs for severe injuries of the ankle and lower limb
5. Refer to your podiatrist for additional advice and on-going care.
6. Avoid heat, alcohol, exercise and massage as in the early stages can increase swelling and bleeding to the area.

Prolotherapy

Orthotics
If you find that you are always straining or spraining your knees or ankles, it may be the way that you walk or run.  Your problems could be simply solved with a pair of orthotics which prevent your ankles and knees from rotating excessively.  At Ipswich Foot & Ankle Clinic, we specialise in computerised posture and gait analysis and custom made orthotics incorporated into a comprehensive rehabilitation program design for your individual needs.