Runners everywhere have been plagued with the dreaded ankle sprain. Imagine you are in the middle of your daily run, singing your favorite song when you hit uneven pavement. Your ankle rolls eliciting sharp throbbing pain and swelling. You find that you have a grade 2 ankle sprain, which indicates a partial tearing of an ankle ligament(s) accompanied with swelling, tenderness, and directional-dependent joint laxity. How would you typically manage your symptoms and aid your recovery? Most people would automatically default to the Rest, Ice, Compress, and Elevation, also commonly known as the R.I.C.E. method. Although the prognosis is good using this intervention, there is an increased likelihood of stiffness, re-injury, and chronic ankle instability. So, what should you do? What could improve your healing time, get you back on your feet again, and decrease the possibility of reinjury? The simple answer is naturopathic modalities.
Naturopathic medicine’s approach is tailored to the individual. It analyzes the different influences that could impact your natural ability to heal. There are various modalities that could be used to treat an ankle sprain and help prevent future recurrences. Below are ten possible treatments and instructions that may increase your healing time and decrease the likelihood of recurrence. Questions involving individualized care, dosages, frequencies, and contraindications should be directed towards a licensed naturopathic doctor.
Top 10 Ankle Sprain Naturopathic Interventions:
- Stabilize and Compression: Injury at any level will reduce structural integrity. With an ankle injury, it’s important to stabilize and compress the injury to lower the probability of re-injury and decrease swelling, and therefore pain. Stabilizing techniques can include ankle braces, taping, compression stockings, assessing proper shoewear, etc.
2. Movement and Exercise: The age of resting an injury is obsolete. Recent research has shown early movement increases lymphatic flow helping to rid the body of waste products that have built up from tissue repair. It also helps to reduce joint stiffness. Exercises such as strengthening, balance, and proprioceptive training help with retraining the ankle and preventing injury recurrence
3. Natural analgesics and anti-inflammatories: NSAIDS are typically used for reducing inflammation and pain in allopathic medicine. Naturopathic medicine utilizes many herbs with less side effects to reduce pain and inflammation. Examples are: Harpogphytum procumbens, Eschscholzia californica, Curcuma longa, and Boswellia serrata. Ricinus communis (castor oil), can be used topical as a castor oil pack to reduce inflammation.
4. Nutritional interventions: Increasing anti-inflammatory foods and eating foods high in zinc, vitamin C, copper, omega-3 fatty acids, bromelain, and vitamin E help with inflammation, collagen building and stabilization which are key in ligament repair. Reducing sugar intake is very important due to its inflammatory nature and it’s effect on joint tissues.
5. Hydrotherapy: The old R.I.C.E. method utilized ice to help reduce the swelling, but there is more you can do than just placing an ice bag on your ankle. Ice massage, heating to relaxing the muscles around the joint, or even contrast water baths could be beneficial to reduce inflammation.
6. Supplementation: Providing the right nutrients to help the healing process is essential. Examples are MSM, B-complex, Glucosamine, bromelain, Quercetin, Coenzyme Q, Magnesium, and essential fatty acids.
7. Homeopathy: There are plenty of homeopathic remedies available to help stimulate the body’s innate response to healing. According to Homeopathy.org, with ankle sprains there are six remedies to consider to help with healing.
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- Ledum palustre: Sprains with bruising. The joint feels cold and looks bruised (blue-black). Although the joint is cold, it feels better for ice cold compresses—the colder the better.
- Rhus toxicodendron: Sprains with stiffness and restlessness. The pains are aching and the joint is worse when first moving it after a rest—and then better for a while with continued movement. It’s hard to get comfortable in any position so a painful restlessness ensues. A sprained wrist cannot grip anything properly or strongly. Hot compresses and baths provide relief.
- Ruta graveolens: Constant pain and lameness. The pains are more bruised than aching. Worse from pressure, standing, or walking, and there’s no relief from continued movement (as there is with Rhus tox). The pains are better with heat and wrapping the joint.
- Strontium carbonicum: Repeated, chronic sprains. For weak, swollen ankles.
- Topical arnica: swelling, trauma, bruising
- Bryonia alba: Sprains with severe pain. The pains are stitching and are worse for cold and the slightest movement. The sprained joint is better from rest (for keeping the joint perfectly still) and from pressure (tight bandaging).
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8. Kinesiotaping (KT): KT taping is used by many trainers and athletes to help with stabilization, muscle inhibition, muscle activation, and swelling reduction.
9. Physical Medicine modalities: Low level laser therapy, Ultrasound, CranioSacral therapy, Applied Kinesiology, diathermy, and many other modalities can be used to enhance tissue healing.
10. Other botanical Intervention: Nervines, connective tissue building herbs, and vulneraries are very helpful with assisting the healing process. Nervines (sedative) help to reduce pain by relaxing the nervous system. Examples of nervines are Avena sativa, Lavendula officinalis, and Melissa officinalis. Connetice tissue builders Connective tissue building herbs like Centella asiatica and Plantago lancelota/major help to reinforce, repair, and strengthen the injured ligamentous tissue. Lastly, vulneraries are wound healing herbs. Herbs such asAachillea millefolium and Plantago lancelota/major are great to help facilitate wound healing.