Maurice broke his ankle in a ski board accident three years ago. Last week while he was lifting a heavy object at work he turned too quickly, slipped, and sprained the same ankle. He finds out that his new injury will be covered under workers’ composition, but he’s wondering what’s going on and how long it will take before he’s back on the job. So is his supervisor.
Maurice knows better than most how much we rely on our ankles to get around. Besides flexing his ankles with every step he takes, Maurice has a job that requires lifting heavy objects, carrying them short distances, and sometimes climbing ladders or foot stools to place them where they belong.
Now he has a bad ankle sprain. It may take six or seven weeks or longer before the stressed ligaments heal completely. With an ankle sprain, the ligaments holding the bones of the ankle and its joint between the foot and the leg are stretched. If they stretch enough to cause tearing of these stretched ligaments the injury is more severe.
First aid for a sprained ankle starts with ice to help reduce swelling. Don’t apply ice directly to the skin. Use an ice pack or wrap the ice in a towel. Bandaging the area snugly with an elastic bandage will help. Keep the injured person from trying to use the ankle for standing or walking until pain and swelling ease.
A sprained ankle is a very common injury suffered by about 2,500 people every day in the US.
Sprains are described in three categories according to the amount of force applied to the ankle during the injury:
Grade 1 sprain—Some damage to the ligament, stretching is moderate. Tearing is microscopic.
Grade 2 sprain—Partial tearing of the ligament.Some but not all of the fibers in the ligament are torn.
Grade 3 sprain—Complete tearing of all of the fibers in the ligament.
At the time of the injury an ankle sprain usually puffs up quickly as tissues swell around the injury. For Grade 2 or 3 sprains, pain can be intense.
For a minor (Grade 1) sprain, there is no need for braces or splinting. The injured person can gradually place more weight on the ankle while it is healing. An air splint is applied to ankles with a Grade 2 or 3 sprain, but physical therapy will continue for a longer period of time with a Grade 3 sprain. In some cases, surgical repair of torn ligaments is necessary to restore function to an ankle with a Grade 3 sprain.
Back to Maurice. Is his old injury in any way responsible for his sprained ankle? Of course we can’t tell without a thorough medical examination, but it is often the case that people who have injured a certain body part will favor that part as they move around. This can cause the person to lose his balance and fall, re-injurying the same ankle, wrist, hip, or other body part.
The best management of employees with a sprained ankle is to get them back on the job as soon as possible. Unless surgery is required, within a few days the worker should be able to handle light duty or desk work.
Brought to you by Griffith Publishing