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Today's the Day: Blog

Ankle Sprains

Posted: Thursday, April 30th, 2009

Wedding Week and Pink Army Auction! It’s been quite busy behind the scenes here at 'A' Morning. All week we’ve been meeting guests with fantastic ideas for weddings, from candy to wines. Our live wedding tomorrow with Stephane and Christina will be one of a kind.

We are very excited, and Angie and I even got our matching dresses to walk down the aisle! The actual wedding will take place at 9am, so if you have the chance to stick around, it will be fun to watch. Did I mention that Kurt is performing the ceremony? Also, mid week we launched our Pink Army Auction live during the show.

We have some great items to choose from next week including Bryan Adams and Jonas Brothers tickets which are sold out shows. The generosity of our viewers and the community is quite evident when you have a chance to speak with them over the phone and listen to the reasons why they feel supporting our cause is important. All of the money raised during the auction will be going towards the "Pink Army; Operation Hope" for the weekend to end breast cancer. Well worth the blisters!

Here’s a look at what we have covered in the last few days on Today’s The Day!

Tuesday: Tanya Robertson of personalized fitness and our resident BOSU expert had us back on the ball working on our golf game. Let’s face it, after a winter of hibernation, once the green grass pokes through there is a flood of activity at the golf range. Sure we all love getting back out on the range and dusting off our clubs, but you also need to dust off the muscles you are planning on using. The action of a golf swing brings together so many muscle groups working in conjunction with each other, but the movements for many can be awkward and jilted. Tanya wanted us to work on the muscles prior to swinging the club focusing on the core, shoulders and back.

In a side plank position, place your elbow in the middle of the BOSU ball. So if you have your left arm on the BOSU, then with your right arm, place it straight underneath you with a light weight, then bring that weight up and towards the ceiling. Bring it back down and repeat, keeping the arm straight and the body in line. Repeat for about 10 reps and then switch side placing the right elbow on the ball. For more information on Tanya check out her website: www.personalizedfitness.ca

On Wednesday we met up with Dr. Allison Geffen talking about ankle sprains. Dr. Geffen forwarded us the following information:

ANKLE SPRAIN
Dr. Allison Geffen

  1. WHAT IS AN ANKLE SPRAIN?
    An ankle sprain is an extremely common joint injury where the ankle moves accidently beyond it’s normal ROM and as a result the ankle ligaments are stretched and tear

  •  (There are 3 ligaments on the outside of your ankle, and these are somewhat more fragile than the ligaments on the inside or your ankle. When people accidentally roll their ankle inwards, the ankle is forced to move outside of it’s normal position, and these ligaments stretch and can tear)(Ligaments are tough elastic bands of fibrous tissue that connect one bone to another and help stabilize the joints and prevent excessive movement)

    1. WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?

    -          The symptoms depends on the severity of the sprain – the greater the symptoms the more severe the sprain and damage to the ligaments

    -          Symptoms include: pain, swelling, bruising, tenderness, and difficulty moving or putting weight on your ankle

    -          If your symptoms are severe (can’t weight bear, severe swelling, heard a pop, etc.) you should see your doctor to make sure that you have not broken a bone, and to get proper treatment

    -           (We categorize sprains:

    1)       Mild Sprain (grade 1) -  microscopic tears – mild swelling and tenderness, but till able put your weight on your ankle and move it with some pain

    2)       Moderate Sprain (grade 2) – a partial ligament tear – tender, painful, bruised, difficult to move ankle and pain with weight bearing (standing)

    3)       Severe Sprain (grade 3) – a complete ligament tear – severe pain, swelling, tenderness and bruising and painful to put weight on it)

         3.  WHAT ARE COMPLICATIONS OF A SPRAIN

    -          If a sprained ankle is left untreated or you return to activities too soon or if you sprain it repeatedly, you can develop complications such as:  persistent pain, joint instability, stiffness, recurrent swelling, loss of range of motion and even loss of bone mass

    1. BEST WAYS TO AVOID AN ANKLE SPRAIN?

    1.       GOOD SHOE WEAR  - wear shoes that fit well and made for your activity, avoid high heeled shoes

    2.       BE CAREFUL WALKING/RUNNING ON UNEVEN SURFACE

    3.       WARM UP BEFORE EXERCISE/SPORTS

    4.       DON’T PLAY/PARTICIPATE IN ACTIVITIES WHICH YOU ARE NOT CONDITIONED FOR (especially sports that require rolling or twisting your foot,  such as basketball, tennis, soccer, etc.)

    5.       KEEP GOOD MUSCLE STRENGTH AND FLEXIBILITY

    6.       AVOID BEING OVERWEIGHT

    7.       FULLY TREAT A PRIOR ANKLE INJURY BEFORE RETURNING TO SPORTS 

    HOW TO TREAT AN ANKLE SPRAIN? 

    -          Initially you should “RICE†– Rest the ankle, Ice it (15-20 min q2-3 hrs  WA x 2-3 days) ,  Compress gently with a tenser/splint to limit swelling,  Elevate your leg to minimize swelling, you can take OTC Tylenol or motrin/advil, use a cane or crutches if necessary

    -          If your symptoms are severe – unable weight bear, extensive swelling or swelling not improve in 48 hours – see your doctor- you may need an XRto rule out a fracture, you may need crutches for a few days, or in severe sprains a walking cast/boot to immobilize your joint so that it can heal properly (in rare cases athletes may need surgery repair)

    -          REHABILITATION EXERCISE  - is a key component -  after a few days once the swelling and pain has improved gently begin to use your ankle again and do exercises to restore ROM, strength , flexibility and balance. 

    -          Don’t return too quickly to your sports – high risk of re spraining

    1. HOW LONG FOR FULL RECOVERY?

    -          Mild and Moderate sprains – heal in 2-4 weeks

    -          Severe sprains – can take much longer

    Jennifer Cohen, our celebrity trainer from LA and author of No Gym Required showed us her version of the Lunge Ten Hut. Jennifer is a big advocate of getting in a workout without the use of fancy gym equipment. Her book has numerous exercises and health tips to follow and her charismatic personality gets you revved up to get going. Plus its always fun to ask her about her celebrity clients!!!

    So, shorts season is not far off! Let’s get our legs in shape to sport the short shorts!!!

    Jennifer suggests the lunges. Not just any amount either. Start with one…..Then move to the other leg and do two- take a step forward and do 3, another step and 4 deep lunges. Continue this until you get to 10. Then start counting back down….So 10 lunges on one leg….followed by 9 on the other….8 on the other and repeat until you get down to one.

    Here is a word of caution. This is your leg workout for the day. Don’t expect to be able to do much else following the leg burner and trust that your legs will be sore and stiff the following morning and the day to follow.

    For more information about Jennifer you can check out her websites

    http://www.jennifercohen.com/

    http://www.nogymrequired.com/

    Hope you all tune in tomorrow morning for the wedding show!

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