ANKLE-SPRAINS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume IX, Issue 9, 27 February 1892, Page 210

ANKLE-SPRAINS.

As ankle-sprain is a stretching or tearing of the ligaments of the joint caused by a sudden twist, the weight of the body being unexpectedly applied to the ligaments, as if by a lever. In most cases the foot is turned inward, and hence it is the external ligaments that suiter. If the sprain is slight, simple rest of the foot for a few days may be sufficient. The more absolute the rest, the better. But an apparently slight sprain, causing, beyond the first pain, no discomfort for perhaps twenty-four hours, may, without proper care become sorely troublesome for months.

Sprains may result from the most trivial accidents. Some persons are more liable to them than others, but no one is exempt from the liability. All may be interested in the main points of an article on the subject in the ‘ Journal of the American Association of Railroad Surgeons.’ Severe sprains lequire elevation of the limb, support to the foot, and a local bath as hot as can be borne, to be repeated every three hours. After each bath the ankle should’be wrapped generously in cotton batting, over which should be applied a tight flannel bandage, or a loose rubber bandage. After the third day, the stage of active hyperaemia (excess of blood) having passed, massage may be used on the parts, and when the swelling has somewhat subsided, a starch bandage may be applied. The splint should include the entire foot, except the toes, and extend one half or two thirds up the leg, and when hardened should be cut open down the front and thus made removable. The hot bath should be repeated several times a day, from ten to twenty minutes at a time, the limb being dried and then well massaged during the intervals. Precaution should be used in working the foot not to turn it in, otherwise the external lateral ligament fibres which were torn and stretched—now undergoing repair slowly because of their low vitality or meagre blood supply —may be re-torn, the tender parts bruised, pain caused, and repair delayed.