What is an ankle sprain?
How do ankle sprains occur?
The majority of ankle sprains happen by 'going over' on the ankle; where the outside edge of the foot is turned underneath by the force of a movement or loss of balance, and the outside of the ankle is stretched.
It is often termed an 'inversion injury' or a 'lateral ankle sprain' because the foot turns inward (inverts). One example of this in badminton would be a player attempting sideways or diagonal movement to reach a shuttle and catching the leading foot so that the foot stays still whilst the player moves past it and falls. Alternatively lateral ankle sprains can happen when landing from a jump if the player lands on the outside edge of the foot or toes instead of the flat of the foot.
Symptoms of an ankle sprain
What will a lateral ankle sprain feel like? There will be pain on the outside of the ankle and foot, swelling and bruising may occur here almost immediately or after a few hours (as in the picture above), dependent upon the severity of the sprain. With minor sprains (called a grade I to II), the athlete would usually be able to put weight on the foot and walk on it for short distances. A major injury (a grade III sprain, a fracture or a dislocation) would be suspected if the athlete cannot put any weight through the foot or cannot walk more than four steps.
*if you cannot put weight through the foot or walk more than four steps you should seek medical help including checking for a fracture or dislocation.
The majority of ankle sprains happen by 'going over' on the ankle; where the outside edge of the foot is turned underneath by the force of a movement or loss of balance, and the outside of the ankle is stretched.
It is often termed an 'inversion injury' or a 'lateral ankle sprain' because the foot turns inward (inverts). One example of this in badminton would be a player attempting sideways or diagonal movement to reach a shuttle and catching the leading foot so that the foot stays still whilst the player moves past it and falls. Alternatively lateral ankle sprains can happen when landing from a jump if the player lands on the outside edge of the foot or toes instead of the flat of the foot.
Symptoms of an ankle sprain
What will a lateral ankle sprain feel like? There will be pain on the outside of the ankle and foot, swelling and bruising may occur here almost immediately or after a few hours (as in the picture above), dependent upon the severity of the sprain. With minor sprains (called a grade I to II), the athlete would usually be able to put weight on the foot and walk on it for short distances. A major injury (a grade III sprain, a fracture or a dislocation) would be suspected if the athlete cannot put any weight through the foot or cannot walk more than four steps.
*if you cannot put weight through the foot or walk more than four steps you should seek medical help including checking for a fracture or dislocation.
What has gone wrong in the ankle?
This a very rough model of the ligaments on the outside (called the lateral side) of the ankle. There are three ligaments, from front to back: the Anterior talofibular ligament (from now on referred to as the ATFL) Calcaneofibular ligament (CFL) and the Posterior talofibular ligament (PFL).
Their relative strength increases from the ATFL at the front round to the PFL at the back, so that in a lateral ankle sprain the ATFL will be damaged first, followed by the CFL being involved too, (this would be a grade three ankle sprain) and at the most severe end of a grade 3 sprain, all three would be damaged to varying extents, an injury which would likely involve the ankle being dislocated as well.
Their relative strength increases from the ATFL at the front round to the PFL at the back, so that in a lateral ankle sprain the ATFL will be damaged first, followed by the CFL being involved too, (this would be a grade three ankle sprain) and at the most severe end of a grade 3 sprain, all three would be damaged to varying extents, an injury which would likely involve the ankle being dislocated as well.
Lateral side sprains occur on the outside of ankle. There are three grades of sprain.
In the picture to the right:
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