While it may not be as bad as a broken bone, sprained ankles sure can hurt. Plus, they greatly impede one’s mobility, which can make it hard to go through your normal daily routine and carry out important tasks. As such, many people are eager to recover from an ankle sprain as quickly as possible. While there isn’t necessarily a way to speed up your body’s healing process, there are several ways you can minimize further damage and promote a faster, more comfortable recovery. Here are some helpful tips for recovering from a sprained ankle.
Stay off Your Feet
One of the most effective ways to decrease the amount of time it takes to recover from a sprained ankle is to limit mobility as much as possible. Putting pressure on your ankle when it is already injured can cause further damage, which will increase the amount of time it takes you to recover. Remember that even when your ankle starts to feel better, you should try not to immediately jump right back into your normal routine. Just because the pain has subsided doesn’t mean your ankle is fully healed. Exercising caution during the healing process will help prevent re-injury.
Take Measures To Reduce Inflammation
Inflammation serves an important purpose in the healing process. It helps stabilize the injured area so that it doesn’t become even more damaged. While inflammation is important, if your ankle swells up too much, the excess inflammation can cause further pain. To facilitate a more comfortable healing process, it may be beneficial to try to reduce the inflammation.
Effective ways to decrease swelling on a sprained ankle include icing the injured area and drinking an ample amount of water. Studies have also shown that consuming or rubbing CBD oil on an inflamed area can help decrease swelling and pain due to the way that the oil interacts with the endocannabinoid receptors in the brain.
Stabilize Your Ankle
While it is important to stay off your feet as much as possible when recovering from a sprained ankle, it may not be practical to sit in bed for several days until your injury fully heals. If you need to get up and walk around throughout the day, taking measures to prevent your ankle’s mobility will help decrease its risk of further damage.
To stabilize your ankle, consider wrapping it snugly with an elastic compression bandage. Doing so will also provide the added benefit of helping reduce excess swelling. Just make sure not to wrap your ankle so tightly that the bandage limits healthy blood flow.
