Scary Mommy interviewed Dr. Reena Patel to provide in-depth medical insight about how to treat a sprained ankle. Dr. Patel is a board-certified family medicine physician practicing in Orange County, NY.

Sprained ankles can happen to anyone at any age, including kids. This makes sense: Children spend a lot of time playing, while occasionally dabbling in roughhousing and horseplay. And while it’s really great that they’re moving around (and using up their seemingly endless reserves of energy), sometimes these activities may result in them getting hurt — including sustaining an injury involving their ankle. Sure, they’ll tell you it hurts, but how can you tell how serious it is? Is it broken, or just sprained? What about twisted? And how does an ankle twist? Here’s what you need to know about how to treat a sprained ankle, including the RICE method and doctor-approved exercises.

First things first: Let’s identify that ankle injury. Dr. Reena Patel, a board-certified family medicine physician practicing in Orange County, New York, breaks it down for us:

Treating a sprained ankle is a process. As much as we’d love to tell you that there’s a way to heal a sprained ankle in two days, that’s not how it works. (And if an ankle injury does heal that quickly, there’s a good chance it was actually twisted and not sprained.)

Anyway, this process involves the RICE method. Per the Mayo Clinic, “RICE” stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation, and serves as a basic set of instructions for treating a sprained ankle:

“RICE is amazing; I recommend it all the time when an X-ray proves that the bone is OK,” Patel explained. “Rest, ice, compression, and elevation go a long way.” And if you’re still dealing with pain and/or swelling, she recommends taking over-the-counter anti-inflammatories such as NSAIDs — that is, in conjunction with RICE treatment.

Sleeping with a sprained ankle can be difficult. Patel says that it’s primarily important to control the pain with over-the-counter pain relievers like acetaminophen or ibuprofen (though ibuprofen is preferable because it aids in reducing inflammation). “In addition, if you can raise [the ankle] to afford that ‘elevation’ part of RICE treatment, it would be great,” she added. “A pillow under [the ankle] or raising the front of your bed would help in alleviating fluid build-up — aka swelling — in your ankle. Ice before bedtime or nap time is also recommended to ease discomfort.”

The best way to prevent future ankle injuries is to increase their strength and stability. This can be done through rehabilitation exercises following a sprained ankle. Here are a few examples:

Like most injuries, the healing time for a swollen sprained ankle varies from person-to-person and depends on factors like the type and severity of the injury, Patel explains. “Generally, we are looking at anywhere from one to four weeks,” she elaborated. “Keep in mind [that] a more severe sprain of the ankle can sometimes be worse in healing than a fracture. I’ve seen this happen and can take months and need physical therapy. But this is not as common.”

Because twists are a less severe injury, twisted ankle recovery time is usually somewhere around a week, but again, Patel stresses that this depends on the person and the extent of their injury.

There are a million ways to sprain your ankle, but sometimes you just run into plain ole bad luck. Here are a few common situations that can put you on crutches.

Not only does vitamin C help boost your immune system and strengthen your bones, but it can be a big help in ligament repair too. Vitamin C is key to collagen production and usually recommended after an injury. It also promotes healing and tissue repair.

Food filled with protein also helps your body repair tissue and muscle. Having a protein diet helps with inflammation if you get hurt. You can incorporate this supplement into your body by eating meat, fish, tofu, beans, or nuts. Zinc is also loaded with tissue and wound healing enzymes and proteins. You can find this supplement in meat, seafood, and whole grains.

If you want to start jogging after a sprain, it’s important to treat your ankles right. There are many ways to strengthen this part of your body and avoid further injury. Here are a few tips for increasing your ankle strength.

This article was originally published on 1.29.2021