Home Remedies For Ankle Sprain

Twisted ankle is a common ailment for most of the people. Though it may be minor and heal by itself in a few days, but for those whom ankle twisting is chronic and accompanied with swelling, pain, bruise, pain in the muscles or blood clotting have likely sprained their ankle to an extent where extreme care and comfort is required for healing.

Twisted ankle can be caused due to various reasons. A few of them being rapid or swift movement with the foot firm on the ground, for those who are into sports activities, it may be a fall or imbalanced foot placement, while walking on an uneven surface etc. For ladies, in addition to these walking briskly on high heels, or due to uncomfortable footwear ankle sprains are possible.

Sprains can be severe or mild, depending upon how brutally a ligament is ruptured or the number of muscles and ligament affected. For those who face twisted ankles often or in severe cases, medical attention should be given immediately.

Otherwise, mild ankle sprains can be treated using common drugs or by the use of home remedies. For any sprain, initially rest and later exercise are a compulsion. In addition, giving ice compressions and using a bandage to prevent hurting or using pressure over the injured foot is also advised. Check out the home remedies: –

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Various Remedies For Ankle Sprain

Alternate Hot And Cold Dip

This is preferably a first aid method for a sprained ankle. For many, ice bags and cold compressions are an easy way to subside the swelling and pain that ankle sprains bring along. However, the other beneficial method is using hot and cold water alternately on the sprained foot.

To use, take hot water in one tub and cold in another. Immerse your foot taking turns every 10 minutes in the tubs alternately. Repeat the process every 2 hours in a day to cure the damaged foot quickly. You can also dilute thyme oil in hot water for benefits. It soothes the skin and muscles.

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Coffee Powder

Those, for whom ice compressions work better than most of the methods, or when using ice compressions it is beneficial to add a few teaspoons of coffee powder to the ice bag. You can also add black coffee powder to the bandage and tie it neither very loose nor tight to the sprained foot.

It is believed that coffee powder helps reduce the pain quickly. In addition, always to use bandage to keep the sprained foot pressed as it helps to prevent swelling, makes sure of maximum benefits of the ingredient used and most importantly, prevents hurting oneself if pressure or sudden movement is done.

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Cabbage Leaves

The easiest and most readily available ingredient at home to cure ankle sprain are cabbage leaves. To use, peel off the outer leaves of cabbage and soak in water for about an hour. Brush off extra water and set the leaves on the sprained ankle and let it stay for 2-3- hours or overnight.

Cabbage leaves cool down the nerves and muscles and help subside the inflammation and also the pain associated with sprained ankle. For more benefits, you can add a few drops of eucalyptus oil on the in-side of the leaf that touches the sprained portion to absorb the pain.

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Epsom Salt

Epsom salt absorbs the pain and brings relief to the sprained ankle. To use, take a tub and fill up to 3/4th level with hot water. Make sure the warmth is a little over normal tolerance. Add 2-3 teaspoons of Epsom salt to this water and let it dissolve. Further, submerge the sprained foot in this water for 30-40 minutes.

This will bring instant relief to the pain and swelling will also subside. Do this up to thrice daily to cure sprain in less than a week. Once the pain subsides, try doing normal stretching of toes and ankle inside the water to free the muscles without causing much stress on the foot.

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Camphor And Sunflower Oil

Heat a cup of sunflower oil and add a teaspoon of camphor oil or powder to it. When warm, apply this oil to the sprained portion. Camphor oil provides soothing cold feeling to the foot and helps in healing. Make sure you massage in soft circular motions till the oil gets soaked in the body.

Since camphor oil is used for massage, initially you feel the warmth of the oils, but later coldness can be felt bringing about much relief. Sunflower oil also helps to subside the swelling, in case there is any, from the sprain. Massage up to thrice daily to see effective results in a week.

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Pineapples

Agonizing sprain can be treated by including pineapple in a considerable quantity in daily diet. Bromelian, an essential nutrient present in pineapple, helps heal the sprain quickly.

Though beneficial, inclusion of pineapple in huge quantities might cause side effects resulting in dermatitis, or skin itching; In such case eliminate having pineapple from the staple diet.

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Onion

Onion is an excellent pain absorbent and brings relief to sprained joints in the body. For a delicate joint like ankle, soak onions in salt water for 2 hours and then grind into a fine paste. Use this paste on the sprained foot and secure with a bandage.

Change this bandage twice daily. Since this might cause little inconvenience, you can also apply the paste at night and leave the bandage overnight. Just be sure that the bandage is not very tight as it might block blood flow to the joint and make the condition worse.

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Horse Chestnut

Aescin, an enzyme beneficial to cure sprain on the ankle is present in huge quantities in horse chestnut. Though rare to find, it has anti-inflammatory properties that makes it one of the best cures for sprain. To use, extract the gel from the fruit of horse chestnut and store in an airtight container.

Apply this to sprained ankle every 2-3 hours unless the inflammation subsides and the pain goes. Horse chestnut helps reduce the pain and swelling in less than 5 days if used promptly.