Be Careful What You Ask Your Amazing Ankles To Do

Talk about a body part with a very tough job, your ankle is designed for one of the toughest and most intricate jobs your body can dish out. It has to aim your foot in a certain direction while supporting your body's weight so that you can take a step and it must continue to do this over and over while you walk, or worse, when you run. When we are not asking it to perform this difficult and dangerous task, we ask it to flex our feet in many different directions while we are at rest. Forget about the complexities of dancing. The ankle can do it all.

The Overworked Ankle

Ankle injuries usually occur when we ask the foot to twist while supporting our weight, especially while we are running or if we are carrying excess weight. Repeated high-pressure rotations can result in an ankle sprain. There are several things that can happen to your ankle when we twist one too many times while running or performing other complex and over-taxing chores. HIPAA Training includes the first aid treatment of these incidents.

• We can sprain one or more of the ligaments in the ankle
• We can stretch and inflame a tendon. When you do this, you can hear it snap out of shape if it is bad enough.
• We can fracture one of the bones in the ankle area.
• We can damage the sliding surfaces in the joint that allow use to rotate the foot.

Stay Off Injuries

If we continue to walk on our ankle after one or more of these injuries has occurred we can do further damage and grossly prolong the healing process. If you sprain any part of your ankle, stay off it until it is completely healed or you will cause yourself much more suffering than was necessary.

Mystery Swelling

When we injure our ankle, there is usually swelling that accompanies the injury. If your ankle swells and there is no pain or injury that you can remember, there may be another cause for the swelling, such as an accumulation of fluid, which may have leaked from the circulatory system. This could be blood or other fluid. This means that a build-up of fluid was caused by the pressure of standing excessively or other problems such as...
• Sitting with pressure on the back of the legs
• Constrictive apparel such as a garter belt or tight jeans
• A high sodium diet
• A blood clot, usually called Thrombosis
• Heart failure
• Liver or Kidney problems

Medical Treatment May Be Required

Obviously, some of these causes of ankle swelling need immediate medical treatment, especially those involving the heart, liver, or kidneys. However, if your swelling is not a result of organ failure or disease or an ankle injury try these ideas to avoid swelling.
• Wear clothes that fit great. The right kind of shoes and loose fitting pants are not only comfortable, they are better for you.
• Avoid walking or standing in high heels.
• Avoid running on hard surfaces, which only adds to jarring of the ankles
• Eat a proper diet that is low in sodium
• Drink plenty of water
• Walk or try healthy leg exercises that are good for muscle tone and circulation
• Control your weight

Your Body Reciprocates

If you take care of these things, your body will reward you with much fewer problems like swelling of the ankles. The important thing to remember is that you ask a lot of your ankles. Asking too much is easy to do, so be careful of where you walk and what you ask your ankles to do.

1. Prev:Fast Weight Loss Plans That Work
2. Next:History Of The Adjustable Gastric Banding Procedure