For many who are avid joggers and runners, suffering from a sprain to the leg or ankle is as annoying as it is painful. It can seriously impact negatively on any training regime that you are sticking to.
If you are worried that your leg sprain is serious, then the first thing you need to do is to seek medical advice, as more serious sprains will often require scans and potentially surgery to resolve. But if you are suffering from a more minor form of muscle sprain following a jogging or running incident, then there are some things you can do at home to help the area to heal.
Compression
To prevent swelling, you will need to compress the area with a bandage, preferably an elastic one. Just be sure that you don’t prevent circulation by wrapping any bandage or compression pad too tightly.
If your injury is in your thigh, then you will need a wider compression sleeve and when you are recovering and begin exercising again, you will need to keep up minor forms of compression by using thigh support for runners to help support the injured muscle.
Rest
Next on the list is rest, if you have damaged any area of your body to the extent that it causes discomfort, rest is one of the best ways to help your body heal.
That means if you are training for a marathon, you will need to cut back until your leg feels more stable and can take the weight of your body without discomfort. If after a few days of rest, you notice that the injury is not improving, you will need to seek medical assistance.
Ice
Much like compression, ice is a great way to reduce inflammation, so aim to use an ice pack or ice slush bath for around 15 to 20 minutes and repeat 2 to 3 times a day.
Just be sure that you place something in between any ice pack and your skin, as applying ice directly on skin can cause ice burn, which is not an injury you want to have whilst trying to recover from a sprain!
Elevation
To reduce inflammation, you need to elevate your ankle above the level of your heart, especially when you are trying to sleep at night. This may sound difficult, but it is easily achieved with the use of some pillows or even a rolled-up duvet at the end of your bed. Gravity will help as it will reduce the swelling by draining excess fluid from the area.
Pain Relief
Pain relief should not be overlooked or overused when it comes to recovering from a sprain. To help reduce inflammation in your leg, you should aim to take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. But be sure to only take the required amount and do not overuse this, as if you stop feeling any discomfort at all and get up to run around, you actually risk re-injury. If the discomfort is persistent, be sure to seek advice from your family health practitioner.
