Sprain (Overview)

Prevention

The best way to prevent sprains is to avoid accidents and injuries. To prevent sports-related sprains, you should:

• Warm up and stretch before you participate in athletic activities.

• Exercise to strengthen the muscles around your joints.

• Avoid sudden increases in the intensity of your training program. Never push yourself too hard, too fast. Increase intensity gradually.

• Wear comfortable, supportive shoes that fit your feet and your sport.

• Wear protective equipment. For example, snowboarders and in-line skaters can protect themselves from wrist sprains by using wrist guards or snug-fitting plastic wrist splints.

• If possible, choose sports equipment that helps to limit your risk of sprains. For example, skiers may be able to decrease their risk of wrist sprains by using ski poles that have a low-profile grip with finger grooves. Skiers also should grip their ski poles without using straps and discard their poles during a fall.

Treatment

If you have a Grade I or Grade II sprain, your health care professional probably will recommend that you follow the RICE rule:

• Rest the joint.

• Ice the injured area soon after the injury to reduce swelling.

• Compress the swelling with an elastic bandage.

• Elevate the injured joint.

Depending on the location of your sprain, your health care professional also may suggest that you wear a sling or a brace to temporarily reduce stress on the injured area. In addition, you can take a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin and others), to ease pain and relieve swelling. As your joint pain gradually subsides, your doctor may prescribe a rehabilitation program to strengthen the muscles around your injured joint. As nearby muscles get stronger, the joint becomes more stable, reducing the risk of injuring it again.

If you have a Grade III sprain, several different treatments can be used, depending on which ligament has been torn. Some ligaments can be repaired surgically with stitches, while others must be replaced surgically using either an autograft (a piece of your own tissue) or an allograft (a piece of donor tissue). Still others are treated with rehabilitation and temporary casting or bracing.