 The foot and ankle joints provide the body with balance, stability, and the ability to bear the body's weight. They must do all these tasks while being exercised and manipulated over one million times a year. Walking places up to one and a half times your bodyweight on your foot and the average person walks approximately 1,000 miles per year. Your feet and ankles provide shock absorption for your body and can cushion up to one million pounds of pressure during one hour of strenuous exercise.
Sprained ankles are one of the most common injuries in sports. Athletes who jump risk ankle sprains because they can accidentally land on the side of their foot. Extensive running, exercise, or training also can overstress the ligaments, leading to injury. Contact and kicking sports expose the foot and ankle to potential trauma-direct blows, crushing, displacement, etc. Especially prevalent in football, hockey, and soccer-trauma can dislocate a joint, fracture a bone, stretch or tear ligaments, or strain muscles and tendons.
Improperly fitting shoes or improper footwear for a particular sport can damage your feet. Training errors, (i.e., running up hills, or running on bumpy roads), predisposes you to serious sprains and strains. If you start a new sport without proper conditioning, you are at risk.
Most sprains and strains are initially treated with rest, ice, compression, and elevation. Moderate and severe sprains and strains are often immobilized with a cast or splint. Severe fractures often require surgical repair. |
