February 21, 2025 • 6 mins
A sprained ankle, one of the most common injuries seen at practice.
What is a sprained ankle?
- Injury that occurs when you roll, twist or turn your ankle in an awkward way.
- Commonest injury when the sole of foot turned inwards – called an inversion injury – damages outside of ankle.
- The injury strains or tears the ligaments that help hold and stabilise the joint.
What are the risks of a sprained ankle and main symptoms?
- Obvious risk is playing sport – rugby soccer where the ankle ‘rolls’
- Uneven surfaces, being unfit, improper shoes causing you to fall, landing awkwardly after jump, higher risk if previous sprained ankle. .
- Main symptom one: immediate pain after roll the ankle, difficulty walking swelling and painful to touch.
- Bruising and restricted movement of the ankle, popping sound, sensation when the injury occurs.
How do we teat them?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
That'd be doctor Brian Betty is here with us this morning.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Kilder Brian, oh cure of Jack and congratulations.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thank you. I was saying earlier, you know, I'm fortunate
in life not to actually have heaps of interactions with
the health system at the stage of life, you know,
And so this is one of the one of the
bigger ones I've had this week. And you know, I
know the system is under huge pressure at the moment,
but my goodness, it only underscored the kind of respect
I have for your colleagues, the nurses, the midwives, the doctors.
(00:40):
That is such a good job.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Yeah, yeah, look, I think we you know, I agree
we're under pressure, but we actually have fundamentally a very
good health system when it's needed. Yeah. Yeah, that's one
of the things that we sometimes do forget.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, I mean, I would say I had a really
positive experience of the health of the Hathier system, not
to say, you know, like not say you know, everything
was perfect, all the kind of facilities that they had
available to them perfect or anything like that, but I
just or that did such a good job and my goodness,
Like I you know, I knew that we had lots
and lots of migrant people working in the healthcare space,
(01:14):
but my gosh, it was the people. It was like,
you know, it was like being in the United Nations.
It was amazing. Yeah, and it really and again yeah,
I felt we felt so cared for and yeah, it
was actually just great to see.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
So really fantastic to hear.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Anyway, this morning, we're focusing on sprained ankles, and they
are one of the most common injuries that I'm sure
you see. What what is a sprained ankle?
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yeah, look, so look, it's an injury that occurs when
you roll or turn your ankle in an awkward way. Now,
the commonest injury we see is where the foot turns
inwards and and it strains the outside of the ankle,
and we call that an aversion inversion injury, and it
damages the structures on the outside of the ankle. Now,
(02:00):
the injury itself, when you turn the ankle causes strains
or tears in what we call the ligaments with the
little fibrous ropes that hold the ankle together or tendons,
which are again little fibrous sort of ropes that attach
muscle too bone, so they stacklize the ankle and they
fold it in place. So when you when you roll
(02:20):
the ankle, they get strained or they can tear, and
it causes sometimes quite a bit of problem.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, I mean speak from personal experience. Yeah, they can
be they can be really really rough. So what are
the risks of a sprained ankle and the main symptoms
obviously a bit.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Of swilling, yeah, look, look, looks. Obviously a big risk
is often sport, so rugby, soccer, hockey, tennis, that's where
you get these rolled ankles. You know, someone in the tackle,
they go over on the ankle and they have to
limp off the field. So obviously sport is a big
risk factor, but there's a couple of other hidden ones.
So often walking on uneven surfaces, if you're not fit,
(03:01):
you're at a greater risk of a sprained ankle. Wearing
shoes that don't quite fit that give you a risk.
And if you land awkwardly, if you jump off a
step or do something like that will actually cause it.
And the other one, which is quite interesting is if
you've had a previous sprained ankle, you're more at risk
of another sprained ankle occurring because it does weaken the
joints slightly. So it's just something to be aware of. Now.
(03:24):
As you said, the big, big symptom is pain. Pain
straight away after you roll the ankle, and that's how
people can play on Often that's really painful to walk
on the ankle, so and they'll notice them swelling often
on the outside of the ankle and bruising starting to develop,
and it's very very painful to touch. So that restricted
(03:44):
movies sometimes. The other thing that's quite interesting that people
describe is a bit of a popping sound or a
sensation of popping when they do it, and that's quite
common as well.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah. I had a really rough sprained ankle about eighteen on,
probably about a year ago. Actually I am playing football.
I made a heroic tackle, of course, but it was funny.
It was just a just one of those things where
I kind of came into contact with the other player
and I could tell, like I could tell my ankle
was smashed before I hit the ground, you know, like
(04:14):
you have those ses, Yeah, you treat them.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Yeah. Look, the immediate treatment is something called rice r C.
Now that is rest, So you need to stay off
the ankle for the first forty eight hours. Ice is
really really important because ice reduces are swelling. So generally
we advise getting some ice onto the sore part of
the ankle for about twenty minutes every two hours, and
(04:42):
you do that over a two day period. Now you
can use p's out of a freezer, it's fine, a
pack of peas, an ice pack, whatever you got, just
slap it on for twenty minutes for a couple of hours.
Bandage around the ankle is really good because that compresses it.
Because what you're trying to do is stop swelling in
the ankle and to elevate and stay off it, so
keep the ankle up. So those four things are really
(05:03):
really important. Plus you can use some power acetamol or
panel just for the pain. Now, look if it's generally
if it's not set or settling in the next fourt
out hours, generally you need to see your doctor. We
may order an X ray because sometimes you can get
small fractures off the bone on the outside of the ankle.
We call those abulsion fractures or something more significant. And
(05:26):
sometimes we'll get obviously a physio involved because they can
do exercises to strengthen the ankle, mobilize the ankle, and
actually help with pain with with some of the techniques
they use now, be realistic. It takes up to six
weeks to heal, so sometimes it can go on quite
a long time, and you need to be realistic. And
the only other thing to note. If it's very severe,
(05:49):
we may use what's called a moon boot, which is
like a plastic cast that you can take off and on.
Means you can walk a little bit, but keeps the
ankle sort of in position and sort of acts like
a cast and helps with the swelling and pain.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
And what about prevention? How do we stop getting a
spangle in the first place?
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Keep and don't play rugby or soccer. Yeah, yeah, look
really important before you play sport. Warm up, Okay, we
know that actually reduces the risk of injury. Gooden shoes
are important. And yeah, you've actually mentioned stiletto so high
(06:25):
heels are actually a risk for roll in the ankle.
And we do see that it looks staying fit and
practicing balancing exercises so often as you get older, things
like tye chen that are really really important because actually
strengthen the ankle and may help with balance and that
can reduce the risk of sprain or turned ankles. So yeah,
there's a couple of basic things you can do to
(06:46):
try and prevent them.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Yeah, very good. Hey, thanks so much, Brian. We will
catch you again in a couple of weeks. Doctor Brian
Betty there with his tips for rest for.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
More from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live to
News Talks b from nine am Saturday, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
That'd be doctor Brian Betty is here with us this morning.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Kilder Brian, oh cure of Jack and congratulations.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thank you. I was saying earlier, you know, I'm fortunate
in life not to actually have heaps of interactions with
the health system at the stage of life, you know,
And so this is one of the one of the
bigger ones I've had this week. And you know, I
know the system is under huge pressure at the moment,
but my goodness, it only underscored the kind of respect
I have for your colleagues, the nurses, the midwives, the doctors.
(00:40):
That is such a good job.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Yeah, yeah, look, I think we you know, I agree
we're under pressure, but we actually have fundamentally a very
good health system when it's needed. Yeah. Yeah, that's one
of the things that we sometimes do forget.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, I mean, I would say I had a really
positive experience of the health of the Hathier system, not
to say, you know, like not say you know, everything
was perfect, all the kind of facilities that they had
available to them perfect or anything like that, but I
just or that did such a good job and my goodness,
Like I you know, I knew that we had lots
and lots of migrant people working in the healthcare space,
(01:14):
but my gosh, it was the people. It was like,
you know, it was like being in the United Nations.
It was amazing. Yeah, and it really and again yeah,
I felt we felt so cared for and yeah, it
was actually just great to see.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
So really fantastic to hear.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Anyway, this morning, we're focusing on sprained ankles, and they
are one of the most common injuries that I'm sure
you see. What what is a sprained ankle?
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Yeah, look, so look, it's an injury that occurs when
you roll or turn your ankle in an awkward way. Now,
the commonest injury we see is where the foot turns
inwards and and it strains the outside of the ankle,
and we call that an aversion inversion injury, and it
damages the structures on the outside of the ankle. Now,
(02:00):
the injury itself, when you turn the ankle causes strains
or tears in what we call the ligaments with the
little fibrous ropes that hold the ankle together or tendons,
which are again little fibrous sort of ropes that attach
muscle too bone, so they stacklize the ankle and they
fold it in place. So when you when you roll
(02:20):
the ankle, they get strained or they can tear, and
it causes sometimes quite a bit of problem.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, I mean speak from personal experience. Yeah, they can
be they can be really really rough. So what are
the risks of a sprained ankle and the main symptoms
obviously a bit.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Of swilling, yeah, look, look, looks. Obviously a big risk
is often sport, so rugby, soccer, hockey, tennis, that's where
you get these rolled ankles. You know, someone in the tackle,
they go over on the ankle and they have to
limp off the field. So obviously sport is a big
risk factor, but there's a couple of other hidden ones.
So often walking on uneven surfaces, if you're not fit,
(03:01):
you're at a greater risk of a sprained ankle. Wearing
shoes that don't quite fit that give you a risk.
And if you land awkwardly, if you jump off a
step or do something like that will actually cause it.
And the other one, which is quite interesting is if
you've had a previous sprained ankle, you're more at risk
of another sprained ankle occurring because it does weaken the
joints slightly. So it's just something to be aware of. Now.
(03:24):
As you said, the big, big symptom is pain. Pain
straight away after you roll the ankle, and that's how
people can play on Often that's really painful to walk
on the ankle, so and they'll notice them swelling often
on the outside of the ankle and bruising starting to develop,
and it's very very painful to touch. So that restricted
(03:44):
movies sometimes. The other thing that's quite interesting that people
describe is a bit of a popping sound or a
sensation of popping when they do it, and that's quite
common as well.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Yeah. I had a really rough sprained ankle about eighteen on,
probably about a year ago. Actually I am playing football.
I made a heroic tackle, of course, but it was funny.
It was just a just one of those things where
I kind of came into contact with the other player
and I could tell, like I could tell my ankle
was smashed before I hit the ground, you know, like
(04:14):
you have those ses, Yeah, you treat them.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Yeah. Look, the immediate treatment is something called rice r C.
Now that is rest, So you need to stay off
the ankle for the first forty eight hours. Ice is
really really important because ice reduces are swelling. So generally
we advise getting some ice onto the sore part of
the ankle for about twenty minutes every two hours, and
(04:42):
you do that over a two day period. Now you
can use p's out of a freezer, it's fine, a
pack of peas, an ice pack, whatever you got, just
slap it on for twenty minutes for a couple of hours.
Bandage around the ankle is really good because that compresses it.
Because what you're trying to do is stop swelling in
the ankle and to elevate and stay off it, so
keep the ankle up. So those four things are really
(05:03):
really important. Plus you can use some power acetamol or
panel just for the pain. Now, look if it's generally
if it's not set or settling in the next fourt
out hours, generally you need to see your doctor. We
may order an X ray because sometimes you can get
small fractures off the bone on the outside of the ankle.
We call those abulsion fractures or something more significant. And
(05:26):
sometimes we'll get obviously a physio involved because they can
do exercises to strengthen the ankle, mobilize the ankle, and
actually help with pain with with some of the techniques
they use now, be realistic. It takes up to six
weeks to heal, so sometimes it can go on quite
a long time, and you need to be realistic. And
the only other thing to note. If it's very severe,
(05:49):
we may use what's called a moon boot, which is
like a plastic cast that you can take off and on.
Means you can walk a little bit, but keeps the
ankle sort of in position and sort of acts like
a cast and helps with the swelling and pain.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
And what about prevention? How do we stop getting a
spangle in the first place?
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Keep and don't play rugby or soccer. Yeah, yeah, look
really important before you play sport. Warm up, Okay, we
know that actually reduces the risk of injury. Gooden shoes
are important. And yeah, you've actually mentioned stiletto so high
(06:25):
heels are actually a risk for roll in the ankle.
And we do see that it looks staying fit and
practicing balancing exercises so often as you get older, things
like tye chen that are really really important because actually
strengthen the ankle and may help with balance and that
can reduce the risk of sprain or turned ankles. So yeah,
there's a couple of basic things you can do to
(06:46):
try and prevent them.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Yeah, very good. Hey, thanks so much, Brian. We will
catch you again in a couple of weeks. Doctor Brian
Betty there with his tips for rest for.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
More from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live to
News Talks b from nine am Saturday, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio.
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