Friday, August 7, 2009

Treatment Of Sprained Ligaments

Any kind of muscle strain or sprain needs to be treated. The key to figuring out correct treatment is knowing treat the injury in order to prevent further pain or damage from occurring. Always consult a physician so you know which medical treatment is necessary to help heal your ligament injury.


Causes and Care


Several things could happen that may cause a sprain in a ligament, but you would be surprised at how easily injuries occur. Usually sprains occur in your foot since they have many ligaments connecting it to your leg, and feet can easily be twisted and injured without causing a break. If you happen to fall or even simply trip over your own foot, you can sprain a ligament in your ankle or leg. You will be alerted to the injury by intense pain and swelling. From there, you know you will need treatment.








Most of the time surgery is not necessary for a sprain unless a bone break or bone fracture is also involved. If there is deep pain and the swelling is a large mass, then an X-ray will normally be taken to make sure there has been no break. If the ligament sprain does not require surgery, a splint might be needed instead to keep your ankle and leg immobile in order to heal properly. When the splint is no longer necessary, usually after a week or two, an ace bandage will be recommended to keep the area tight and compressed.








To reduce swelling and intense pain, you should apply ice to the injured area for 20 minutes per hour for 2 days. To keep your skin from ice-burn and irritation, place the ice in a plastic bag and place a thin cloth over your leg with the ice on top of it. That will prevent direct skin contact so no other damage is done. A heated whirlpool or simply a warm-to-hot tub of water will help heal your leg at 2 days post-surgery. The transition between hot and cold allows the injury to decrease in swelling and pain, and then finish the healing process.


Once it has begun to heal, you will need to slowly start using the joint where the sprain occurred. Going slow and building up its use will gradually get it back into shape. This is pretty much like rehabilitation for your ligament.


Any medications prescribed should be taken accordingly.


Prolotherapy


This form of therapy requires natural body stimulation to repair any damaged ligaments or nerves. It has been proven one of the safest and least painful ways to cure ligament damage. What it does is create a mild inflammatory process in the injured ligament caused by a prolotherapy injection. Sent directly into the affected nerves, the solution triggers a quick healing response that inflames the area causing massive collagen production. Collagen is the sole material form which tendons and ligaments are made. As collagen matures, it shrinks. With that, the ligament tightens and is ultimately healed and back to normal over time. With potential to be 100 percent effective, prolotherapy also requires you to exercise and stimulate the damaged ligament to aid in present and future healing.

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