How to reduce swelling from a sprained ankle

Ankle sprain is an inevitable condition in many cases. Generally speaking, after an ankle sprain, the ankle will become red, swollen and painful. Faced with a red and swollen ankle, many people will be at a loss. However, for ankle sprains, which are common symptoms in daily life, it is very necessary for everyone to master some countermeasures after its occurrence. Therefore, this article describes how to reduce swelling in a sprained ankle.

Many people will rub the painful area to relieve the pain when they sprain their ankle. In fact, this practice is very wrong. Some people even use hot compresses to relieve pain. These methods are not advisable. So, how to reduce swelling after a sprained ankle?

The flexion of the lateral aspect of the ankle joint is what we usually call a sprain; the flexion is the tissue that connects two bones. Swelling and bruising will occur at the site of flexion. A flexion of the flexion is caused by external force that causes the joint to move beyond the normal physiological range, resulting in a strain, partial fracture or complete fracture of the flexion around the joint. This is called a joint flexion. After a joint is sprained, there will be local swelling, pain, and tenderness, and if there is subcutaneous bleeding, a cyanotic area may be seen. It is very important to treat joint sprains correctly in the early stages. Because sprained tissue is not easy to regenerate and recover, if it is not treated properly or misdiagnosed and turns into a chronic disease, it may leave functional disorders and be prone to sprain again in the future.

Common symptoms of spinal cord injury include local swelling, pain, bruises, and limited limb movement. The etiology and pathogenesis are external forces that damage the tendons, muscles and bones, leading to obstruction of the meridians and stagnation of qi and blood. After the injury, the injured part is swollen and congested, the meridians are not smooth, and the qi and blood are blocked.

What should you do after spraining your ankle? Some people often rub the swollen area vigorously to disperse the accumulated blood; then apply a hot towel to promote blood circulation and reduce swelling; finally, they walk and move around despite the pain. However, practice has proved that this is inappropriate, because when local small blood vessels rupture and bleed, a hematoma will form, which usually takes about 24 hours to recover and stop bleeding.

If you rub vigorously, apply hot compresses, or force yourself to move immediately after a sprain, it will inevitably accelerate bleeding and exudation while dispersing some of the blood stasis, and may even aggravate the rupture of blood vessels and form a larger hematoma.

What is the correct self-care after an ankle sprain?

First: Distinguish the severity of the injury. Generally speaking, if I feel pain when I move my ankle, but it is not severe, it is mostly soft tissue injury. Can I get treatment? If I feel severe pain when I move my ankle, cannot stand or move, the pain is in the bone, there is a sound when I sprain it, and there is rapid swelling after the injury, etc., these are signs of a fracture and I should go to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment immediately.

Second: Use hot and cold compresses correctly. Hot compress and cold compress are both physical therapies, but their effects are completely different. Blood becomes active when it encounters heat and coagulates when it encounters cold, so cold compresses are advisable in the early stages of injury to reduce local hematoma; hot compresses can be applied after the bleeding stops to speed up the dissipation of blood stasis around the injury. Generally speaking, hot compresses should be applied 24 hours after an injury.

Third: drug treatment. The injured area can be applied with Xiaozhong Powder, the formula of which is 7 shallow = 30 grams of Rong leaves, 10 grams of red beans, 3 grams of Glauber's salt powder. Grind them into fine powder, add honey or white wine to make a paste, apply it to the affected area, and change it every 2-3 days. You can also take medicine for injuries orally.

Fourth: local massage. Before applying the medicine, you can massage the injured foot, gently rub the injured area with the thumbs of both hands, and rub from the foot to the calf. This can relieve pain and reduce swelling.

After reading this article's introduction on how to reduce swelling after a sprained ankle, I believe that you will no longer make mistakes in the treatment of ankle sprains in the future, which may lead to worsening of the condition. For small knowledge like reducing swelling after ankle sprains, I hope you can keep them in mind to solve your urgent needs.