How long does it take for a dislocated ankle to heal?

There are always various unexpected situations in life, and nothing will go smoothly. When you are unlucky, you may even choke when drinking water. There are countless cases of accidental ankle sprains or even dislocations. If you sprain your ankle, mild cases can be handled by yourself, but severe cases require treatment by a doctor to avoid sequelae and habitual sprains. This article introduces the follow-up treatment of ankle dislocation, which should not be underestimated. Let’s take a look.

1. Dislocated ankle

If you simply sprain your foot and there is no fracture, the recovery will be quick and you can be back to health in about half a month. (Twenty-four hours after an injury is the best time to treat a wound. If you take measures such as hot compresses during this period, recovery will be faster.) Once dislocated, it will be more troublesome. It's not so bad for minor cases, but for some patients the joint capsule is severely damaged after dislocation, so it will take more time. In addition, there are cases where the upper limbs recover faster than the lower limbs. However, according to common sense, a dislocation requires at least 2 weeks of immobilization. If you are still worried, you can rest for about two to four more weeks. At the same time, you can use both traditional Chinese medicine and external application as a two-pronged treatment method, and the effect will be better. It is worth noting that the diagnosis of ankle dislocation is not difficult and can be correctly diagnosed by routine X-ray examination.

2. Follow-up treatment of ankle dislocation

1. Posterior ankle dislocation

Once this is confirmed to be the case, lumbar or epidural anesthesia should be given immediately, followed by reduction. The specific method is to bend the knee joint first, then do plantar flexion traction, and wait until the talus enters the ankle hole (dorsiflexion ankle joint), and then use a long leg plaster to fix the injury for about 5 weeks.

2. Anterior dislocation of the ankle

Once the cause of the injury is determined, anesthesia and reduction should be performed immediately. Bend the knee joint, stretch the dorsum of the foot, and pull until the talus and the anterior lower lip of the tibia are freed, that is, push the talus downward and backward to reposition it. Then, fix the long leg in the plantar flexion position for about 3 weeks, and then change to the dorsiflexion position of the ankle and continue to fix the long leg in the plantar flexion position for about 2 to 3 weeks. Of course, if the fracture is very serious, the total fixation time will take about 8 to 12 weeks.