Fast Ankle Injury Recovery From Tendonitis, Sprains & Strains

Ankle injury recovery time can be reduced when you get the injured tissues treated holistically. Injuries such as ankle springs, strains & tendinitis required customized care that focuses on the injured area through advanced therapeutic procedures and technologies such as laser therapy and shockwave therapy to decrease recovery time. 

Ankle pain and ankle injuries are treatable and recoverable without injections or surgery with the initiation of a focused and customized ankle and foot treatment plan with rehabilitation. Chiropractic Specialty Center® (CSC) in Malaysia provides advanced ankle treatment and rehabilitation methods to decrease recovery time from a painful injury.

If you have injured your ankle, you need it assessed to rule out hidden injuries that can become problematic later. Even if you think it’s a simple sprain or strain, you should still get it evaluated by one of our clinical team members. 

All too often, patients dismiss a painful ankle as a simple sprain, only later to find out that this pain was not so simple and that there were hidden fractures. 

CSC’s chiropractors are the non-surgical experts you need to carefully evaluate your injured ankle, ruling out serious injuries such as moderate or severe tendonitis, sprains, strains, or fractures. In this article, we have focused on common ankle injuries and their respective recovery time for your review; contact our main center on 03 2093 1000 for the holistic treatment of a sprained ankle, our services, and locations.

What Should You Know About Ankle Injuries?

In Malaysia, Chiropractic Specialty Center® (CSC) provides ankle rehabilitation for faster healing and recovery from ankle injuries. Before discussing the various types of damages, we would like to start with some basic anatomy and possible complications of a neglected ankle injury. The ankle joint is made of three bones:

1. Talus bone: The talus bone (lies directly above the heel bone)
2. Fibula: The fibula is the thin bone on the outer aspect of the ankle that forms the lateral malleolus or the bump on the outer ankle. 
3. Tibia: The tibia is the thicker legbone, also known as the shin bone, located on the inner or medial side of the ankle and leg. Articulation between the tibia and the talus forms the medial malleolus (bony bump on the inner part of the ankle).

Neglected or untreated ankle injuries can lead to recurrent flare-ups or frequent injuries, resulting in irreparable joint damage. The sad news is that the vast majority of people with mild to moderate ankle injuries such as tendinitis, sprains, and strains live with residual aches and pains. Neglected ankle injuries are the leading causes of:

• Cartilage damage
• Degenerated ankle joints
• Calcification of soft tissues
• Bone spurs around bones of the ankles (talus, fibular &tibia)
• Torn & ruptured tendons
• Dislocated tendons
• Recurrent strains & sprains

Common Types Of Ankle Injuries & Their Respective Recovery Times

According to published studies, ankle injuries account for 15% of all sports-related or musculoskeletal injuries. There are various forms of injuries, mild, moderate, and severe ankle injuries resulting from:

• Tendonitis
• Sprains
• Strains
• Dislocation
• Fractures

1. Tendinitis: Tendinitis is described as microscopic tears or inflammatory reactions within tendons. Mild or focal tendonitis can be self-limiting with a recovery period of seven to 10 days. Tendonitis expanding over a large area of the tendon requires specialized treatment methods for complete recovery. The best treatment for tendonitis, sprains, and streams is shockwave therapy combined with high-intensity laser therapy.
2. Mild or moderate sprains (torn ligament): mild or moderate sprains or grade one or grade two ankle sprain injuries. Recovery time for a grade can be as long as one week without treatments or a couple of days with focused therapy. However, a grade 2 spring may require 3 to 6 weeks of treatments for a full recovery. Grade 2 injuries that are neglected result in residual ankle pain of various severity.
3. Mild or moderate strains (torn muscles): An ankle sprain is an injury to the ankle muscles or their tendons. The mechanism of injury is similar to a sprain or torn ligament. Strains or muscle injuries occur when the tendon or the muscle is stretched beyond its normal limit: muscle strains or common in patients who neglect tendonitis. Recovery time for a torn muscle depends on the severity and end location of the tear. Tears at the tendon require longer healing and recovery time—tears at the belly of the muscle repair faster due to increased blood flow. Full recovery and return to athletic activities are possible within 4 to 8 weeks. Mild strains or tears of muscles merely cover within 5 to 10 days. However, healing will not be complete until the 3rd or 4th week. As such, it is advised to avoid aggressive physical activities for at least three weeks.

Severe Ankle Injuries Require Longer Healing Period

It is important to note that a severe ankle injury will not heal unless you combine treatments provided by a surgeon with rehabilitation, physiotherapy, or chiropractic. Also, you will need to have a cast in some instances, or at the very least, wear a brace. In addition, you should never walk unassisted in the early stages of injury or therapy. As such, the use of crotches is essential to your recovery. Neglecting moderate or severe ankle injuries will result in degenerative changes with lifelong implications. Heed the warning, don’t neglect ankle injuries, especially if they are moderate or severe.

Recovery Time & Symptoms Of Severe Ankle Tendinitis

As mentioned earlier, tendinitis or inflammatory processes result from microscopic tears. Mild or moderate tendinitis or focal tendinitis impact a small area. The smaller the site, the faster the healing and recovery time. On the other hand, severe tendonitis results in longitudinal tears and inflammatory processes, expanding over a larger area of the tendon’s length. Severe tendonitis is recoverable with CSC’s highly specialized methods of non-surgical care. Full recovery is possible in six to 10 weeks.

Recovery Time, Signs & Symptoms Of Severe Ankle Sprains & Strains

Severe sprains and severe ankle strains will require surgical intervention as these injuries result in complete and total tears of either ligaments, tendons, or muscles. You will need to wear casts in special braces for several weeks. Also, you will be required to attend rehabilitation and therapeutic sessions after your surgery to ensure full recovery and complete healing. Full recovery it’s possible with focused treatments combined with rehabilitation and customized exercises. Return to full activity may be possible and eight to 12 weeks post-surgical intervention.

Recovery Time, Symptoms & Sings Of Ankle Dislocation

Ankle dislocations are severe injuries resulting from sprains and significant misalignment of one or more ankle joint bones. Patients with dislocated ankles will experience immediate end severe pain with an inability to stand or walk. Also, the ankles will look deformed and swell up. 

A dislocated ankle is a medical emergency and requires an immediate visit to the nearest hospital. It’s not uncommon for an ankle dislocation to be present with fractures. Also, the danger of ankle dislocation is the compromise, injury, or compression of blood vessels and nerves that traverse or pass through to the ankles. 

Patients with a dislocated ankle may not require surgery; you will need bracing and focused and ongoing ankle therapy and rehabilitation for 8-10 weeks. Ligamentous tears or sprains require longer healing and recovery time compared to strains of muscle tears. 

How Long Will It Take To Recover From Ankle Fractures?

Ankle fractures are common and adults and kids. In general, there are two types of ankle fractures. 

1. Stable fractures: Stable ankle fractures are hairline fractures and minor fractures that are stable. You may break the bone, but the joint remains stable and in a good position. These are generally easy to manage; most patients can recover what a cast or boot. 
2. Unstable fractures: As the name applies, unstable fracture results in unstable foot and ankle joints. Unstable ankle fractures require surgery and casting or boot.

Stable ankle fractures may feel like a sprain, and this is yet another reason to get a proper assessment for an ankle injury. We have listed the five most common types of ankle fractures below:

1. Fibular fracture: Fractures that impact the lateral malleolus. These are the most common types of ankle fractures resulting from a forceful twist of an ankle or when you badly land on it during athletic activity.
2. Tibial fracture or pilon fracture: These fractures result from high velocity or energy impacts such as those experienced during car accidents skiing or a fall from heights. 
3. Trimalleolar fracture: A trimalleolar fracture is one of the severest ankle fractures with the poorest prognosis.
4. Maisonneuve fracture: Here is another excellent example of a fibular fracture that can be misdiagnosed that’s an ankle sprain. 
5. Bimalleolar ankle fracture: Bimalleolar ankle fracture is the second most common fracture seen just above the ankle joint. It is a fracture of both the fibula and tibia, and these are serious, resulting from Forceful rotation of ankles has seen and impact sports or footballers.

The thing to remember with fractures of the ankle joint is that they accompany soft tissue injuries. You will need to fix and repair the fracture first. Soft tissue injuries should be treated conservatively after the fracture has healed. If you have broken your ankle or a shinbone, you will need to visit a surgeon after your fracture has healed. We can initiate a focus rehabilitation program that addresses all soft tissue components of your ankle injury.

Typically fractures require four to six weeks to heal. Soft tissue healing depends on severity and location. Complicated soft tissue injuries that accompany a fracture may require an additional 6 to 10 weeks of rehabilitation before full athletic participation.

Get The Best Treatment For Your Injured Ankle At CSC

Foot pain and ankle pain resulting from injuries require attention and targeted treatments. CSC’s non-invasive ankle and foot pain treatment in Malaysia is better and more effective than competing centers. Let us help you recover today. Ankle injuries treated through our methods of treatments help you

recover faster as we target the injured or malfunctioning segments better. The best treatment for sprains and sprains is shockwave therapy combined with high-intensity laser therapy. In addition, some may benefit from ultrasound and electrotherapy.

CSC’s Ankle treatment protocol involves integrative methods of care by CSC’s award-winning physiotherapy and top-rated chiropractors in Kuala Lumpur. Our methods of combined or integrative ankle treatments have helped many recover faster from an injured ankle. What makes us better than most is our targeted therapies based on accurate diagnosis and clinical findings compiled to physical examination, X-ray analysis, and MRI assessments when needed. Moreover, we customize its strengthening, stretching, and habitation exercises for an end office therapy session and those you need to perform in the privacy of your home.

What Types Of Strengthening & Stretching Exercises Will Help Your Recovery From An Ankle Injury?

Several exercises can hasten the recovery process and strengthen the ankle to prevent re-injury following an ankle sprain. These exercises involve mobility, strengthening, and proprioception/balance exercises.

Mobility exercises that help the recovery of an injured ankle:

Move the ankle up and down in a seated or standing position. This helps increase the range of joint movement, and the pumping effect helps to reduce the swelling. Avoid sideways motion in the early stage of injury as this may irritate the lateral ligaments. You can perform alphabet or Number writing with the foot in the later stage of healing. Engage in weight-bearing exercises as soon as possible to accelerate the healing process

Best strengthening exercises for faster recovery

You can perform your strengthening exercises in all ranges of motion of the ankle. Dorsiflexion (moving the foot upwards) and plantarflexion (moving the foot downwards) are better when using your other foot to provide resistance. Also, you can perform inversion (moving the foot inwards) and eversion (moving the foot outwards) by pushing the inside and outside of the foot against a table or chair leg.

Proprioception & Balance training for lasting relief of aches and pains

Heel-to-toe balance exercise helps to train the ankle proprioception. Stand with one foot immediately behind the other foot. Hold the position for 30 seconds without losing balance. Progress the exercise with eyes closed. Make sure you stand beside the wall or have something to hold on to when you lose balance. Wobble board exercises can develop ankle proprioception as well as leg muscles strength.

The best clinical teams of chiropractors and physiotherapists to treat your sprained ankle is at Chiropractic Specialty Center® with customized ankle rehabilitation for faster ankle injury recovery with lasting relief; call 03-2093 1000.