Physical Therapy, The Smart Way to Treat a Ligament Sprain

Are you Suffering From a Ligament Sprain?

Whether you are running across the soccer field to score a goal or walking across your icy driveway on the way to work, accidents happen, and muscle strains and ligament sprains can happen to anyone. While a strain refers to an injury to a muscle, a sprain refers to an injury to one of the ligaments that stretches between joint surfaces to help stabilize it. If you’ve ever sprained your wrist or your ankle, then you know how uncomfortable these injuries can be. The good news is that in most cases the care of a physical therapist can help reduce your symptoms and get you back to your full activities. Read more below to learn about sprains and how PT can help you recover.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MY JOINT?

Many times ligament sprains happen in response to stepping or landing awkwardly, twisting the knee or ankle, or even falling and landing on an outstretched arm. Muscle fatigue, such as at the end of a long workout may increase the risk of uncontrolled joint movements that can injure ligaments. Uneven footing and improper or poorly-fitted equipment may also put one at a higher risk for experiencing ligament sprains.

Ligaments are bands of tissue that support bones, joints and organs. Many ligaments stretch from one side of a joint to the other to connect the bones together and stabilize the joint. When a joint is moved beyond its normal range of motion it stresses and stretches the inelastic fibers of the ligament and can cause tearing. For example, if you’ve ever stepped wrong during a hike and rolled your ankle, the ligaments on the outside of the ankle joint may have been sprained. If you’ve ever slipped on ice and stuck your arm out behind you to brace your fall, your wrist may have extended a bit too far causing a wrist sprain. Because the primary function of ligaments is to provide passive stabilization to the area, loss of stability can range from mild to severe with a ligament sprain.

We can categorize a sprain based on its severity:

- Grade I (mild): microscopic damage has occurred to the ligament but only mild local tenderness and minimal bruising/swelling is noted without compromising joint stability. Typically takes 2-3 weeks to heal.

- Grade II (moderate): partial tear/rupture of the ligament. Obvious swelling and tenderness noted over the injured ligament but joint instability is either minimal or absent. May require up to 6 weeks to heal.

- Grade III (severe): complete rupture of the ligament with severe swelling and tenderness. This injury may be difficult to distinguish from a fracture initially. Instability of the joint is noticeable due to the severity of the rupture. Prolonged time to heal is frequent and may require surgery to repair.

START THE HEALING PROCESS ON THE RIGHT FOOT

If you’ve injured yourself, it is important to assess the severity of the injury and identify what structures are involved. If you cannot move the injured joint, can’t bear weight on it, or notice severe swelling and tenderness, it is important to see a doctor right away to rule out a fracture. As noted above, severe ligament sprains and fractures can initially mimic one another in their presentation, but their treatment is quite different.

A physical therapist can advise you on this matter and can also identify the ligaments that may be injured. In the first week or so after injury your physical therapist will guide you on how to protect the recently injured and newly healing ligament. You want to minimize any movement that causes pain or places any stretch or strain across the injured site. They may recommend bracing or taping to protect the injured area and reduce pain or advise you to use crutches if you cannot walk without limping.

Aside from protecting the area of injury, in this very early phase your physical therapy treatment will focus on reducing inflammation and pain, and maintaining strength in unaffected areas above and below the injury. To achieve these goals your physical therapy treatment may consist of the application of ice or light soft tissue work to mobilize any edema. Modalities such as electrical stimulation or ultrasound may be applied to increase circulation, decrease inflammation and control pain.

As the healing tissues become stronger, inflammation subsides and pain is reduced, it is time to move on to the next phase of physical rehab. If your ligament sprain is in one of the joints of the leg, ankle or foot, it is important that you are able to walk with a normal gait pattern without any assistive devices before you start adding too much stress to the healing ligament. Your PT will help you know when you have reached these milestones and you may begin to perform gentle pain-free stretching and range of motion exercises to restore mobility to the joint. It is also important in this phase to start performing light resistance training to the muscles around the affected ligament as muscles partner with ligaments to stabilize a joint.

Finally, in the later stages of healing your physical therapy treatment will focus on exercises and activities that prepare the injured ligament to withstand the stress and strain of everyday life and the sports and recreational activities we love to do. In this stage you may begin more sport-specific exercises and activities to restore power, agility and speed. Optimizing biomechanics and muscle strength and motor control is essential to support the previously-injured joint and reduce the likelihood of experiencing an injury in the future.

GET HEALTHY AND STAY HEALTHY

Because a moderate or severe sprain can compromise the integrity of the ligament and cause long-term instability, having the guidance of a rehab professional like a physical therapist is important to reduce the likelihood of re-injury. Though suffering an injury can feel discouraging, you can speed up the time it takes you to get back to the activities you love and reduce the risk of becoming re-injured through an individualized physical therapy program. The physical therapists at Evolve are ready to get you feeling better and back on track!

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About EvolveNY-

Brooklyn's Premier Holistic Physical Therapy Clinics- There’s physical therapy, there’s training, and then there’s EVOLVE. We use the science of biomechanics merged with fitness to help our patients get better and stay better! First we evaluate, then we heal, then we strengthen our clients so they can reach their goals, feel better, and live happier lives. We do so by utilizing a range of core techniques and specialized treatments to reduce pain, improve mobility, enhance physical strength and deal with the underlying issues, not just the pain itself.

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