What should I do if my ankle hurts? Correct emergency treatment method

It is very common to sprain your ankle in our daily life. Spraining your ankle will cause pain and swelling. What should you do? The first and most important thing is to stop the activity. You can use ice packs for cold compresses. If the situation is serious, seek medical attention immediately.

1. Immediately stop walking, exercising, working and other activities, sit or lie down, and use pillows, bedding, clothes, backpacks, etc. to raise your feet to facilitate venous return, thereby reducing swelling and pain.

2. Immediately apply an ice pack or cold towel to the local area to contract the capillaries to reduce bleeding or exudation, thereby alleviating swelling and pain.

3. While or after applying cold compress, you can use bandages, triangular bandages or other fabrics to apply pressure around the ankle joint. You can also use several wide strips of tape to stick from the sole of the foot to the ankle joint and the back of the foot to fix the ankle joint to reduce the range of motion. Whether bandaging or taping, the injured lateral ankle should be placed in eversion or the injured medial ankle inversion to reduce the pull on the injured collateral ligament or muscle, thereby reducing or avoiding worsening of the injury.

4. If a fracture has occurred or is suspected, two wooden boards or cardboards about 30 cm long should be placed on the inside and outside of the injured area, and cotton pads, towels or clothes should be placed on the injured area. Then use bandages or triangular bandages to fix and tie the two wooden boards. If it is an open fracture, pressure bandage should be applied to stop bleeding and then the fracture should be fixed.

5. After an injury, avoid massaging the injured area and avoid applying hot compresses immediately. Hot compresses should be started 24 hours after the injury.

6. It is best to use a single frame to transport the injured to the hospital for further diagnosis and treatment. If necessary, call the emergency number 120 and ask professional emergency personnel to handle further.