A sprained ankle is a common injury that involves damage to one or more of the ligaments that support the ankle joint. Ankle sprains are usually the result of rolling or twisting the ankle, eventually stretching the connective tissue until it tears.
The most commonly injured ligament of the ankle is the Anterior TaloFibular Ligament or ATFL.
How do you know if you have a sprained ankle?
A diagnosis from a medical professional is the only way to know for certain, but there are three things to keep in mind if you think you’ve sprained your ankle:
- Pain and swelling – Tearing a ligament in your ankle hurts, and may cause significant swelling around the site of the injury. However, numbness and or an inability to move your toes might be a sign that you’ve broken a bone in your ankle instead of spraining it.
- Instability of the ankle joint – Injury to a ligament like the ATFL makes the ankle joint unstable, which means that moving your foot or putting weight on it will be difficult, and probably painful.
- Bruising – When you sprain your ankle, blood vessels can tear along with ligaments causing bruising. An ankle strain, which involves overuse of the muscles and tendons of the ankle, doesn’t usually cause bruising.
The severity of a sprained ankle is usually classified as grade 1, 2, or 3, depending on the symptoms and the degree of damage to ligaments. In a grade 2 sprain, the ATFL is partially torn and the ankle joint is unstable.