Breaks And Sprains

Breaks and sprains, I’ve had them both.  Neither of which is very much fun, but I can tell you that I will take the break over the sprain that I had any time.  Why?  Because the sprain was severe an it took about 2 years to get over it.  The break on the other hand, I was over in 2 – 3 months.  The cast was off in about 6 weeks and the walking-boot was on for another 4 (maybe).  

Yes, I know everyone is different and your experience may differ from mine, but I stand by my opinion.  If you’re looking at the picture and thinking, “that’s not so bad”.  That wasn’t my sprain and that’s minor compared to what mine looked like.  This picture is borrowed from Wikipedia.org.  

Obviously breaks are just that; a break.  They can be set back together again in most cases with relative ease.  Yes, I know that there are exceptions to this rule, but by and large, they are a ‘simple’ fix.  Sprains on the other hand can take months if not years (as was the case with me) to heal.  Why the difference?  Perhaps it comes from the arena of exactly what happens in a sprain.  Take a look!

Inversion, Eversion And High Ankle Sprains

So what are the different types of sprains that we can get and exactly what is a sprain.  Well first things first, a sprain is where the ligaments are torn or stretched beyond their normal use.  As you can imagine, if something tears (unless it can be sown), it’s going to take longer to mend.  The more extensive the stretching and tearing, the longer the healing process.  Very often it’s not just stretching an tearing, but ruptured bloods vessels occur and of course swelling to try and protect the damaged area.  

So what is a high sprain.  This usually occurs about 4 inches up from the ankle.  It could in fact be argued, that it’s a leg sprain and not and ankle because of how far it is from the ankle.  But the experts declare it to be a high sprain or high ankle sprain. 

An inversion sprain, is the most common of sprains.  We refer to it as ‘twisting’ our ankle or ‘rolling’ out ankle.   With an inversion sprain, the ankle rolls to far outward and as mentioned before, it causes the ligaments to tear and stretch beyond what they should be. 

An eversion sprain, is the opposite of the inversions sprain where the ankle rolls inward instead of outward.  The end results is the same as with an inversion sprain, that being that there are torn and over stretched ligaments.

Remember, if in doubt if it is a break or a sprain, see a doctor. 

Lastly!!!

Lastly, if you’re ever not sure, it’s a far better thing to go to a doctor and have it checked out.  Remember, urgent cares are faster and cheaper than emergency rooms.  The cost less and have most of the same equipment that emergency rooms have access to.

If you’re looking at going in, also consider that urgent cares have x-rays, cost less, have a walk-in feature and in most cases, you now have the ability to call ahead and set an appointment up.  In this busy day and age, you know the benefit to being able to see a doctor at a specific time.  These features allow for you to save time, energy and money.  That’s a win for everyone.  This is especially the case when you are hurting and not feeling well.