A very common injury inside and outside the sports field.

Ankle sprain is understood to be the partial or total strain or rupture of one or more of the ligaments that make up the joint.

This occurs when the ligament is brought to maximum tension and is not able to withstand the tension, producing a more or less severe strain or tear.

This injury can be carried out by direct trauma or indirectly. The first, especially in sports such as soccer and indirectly, especially in sports such as mountain running where the surface on which the activity is carried out has a significant instability component.

The ankle is made up of 2 joints:

• Talar tibiofibular joint (distal part of the fibula, tibia and talus). This joint allows us to perform ankle flexion-extension movements.

• Subtalar joint (formed by the trochlea of ​​the talus and the calcaneus). This joint allows us to perform prono-supination movements.

In addition, the ankle joint is made up of the external lateral ligament and internal lateral ligament, which are responsible for passive stabilization of the joint.

• The internal lateral or deltoid ligament (named for its shape) is the main stabilizer.
• The external lateral ligament formed by 3 fascicles: anterior peroneo-talar, peroneal calcaneus, and posterior peroneo-talar. The anterior portion being the one with the most injuries.

It is important to know the different degrees of injury in which we classify the injury.

• Grade I: Partial tear of the ligament that refers to pain, usually presents little inflammation, the functionality is maintained and does not present significant instability.

• Grade II: Incomplete tear of the ligament with functional disability that refers to pain, great inflammation, hematoma and presents functional impotence and joint instability even in passive movements.

• Grade III: Complete rupture of the ligament that refers to pain, a large hematoma, and immediate inflation. The instability and functional impotence is total, becoming impossible until the foot is supported.

Initially, the pain and the accompanying inflammatory process must be treated, the duration of which depends on the inflammatory response and the severity of the injury. Once we have treated the pain and inflammation, we will deal with immobilization of the joint, the technique of which will vary depending on the degree of injury.

In grade III, sometimes surgery is used to repair the ligament, although this treatment is not performed in all cases.

If we carry out a bad rehabilitation of the injury, we can obtain as a consequence a chronically unstable joint and a greater probability of suffering an injury again.