Chinese Sports Medicine: Anatomy of an Ankle Sprain

Chinese Sports Medicine: Anatomy of an Ankle Sprain

One of the most common sports injuries is a sprained ankle, and 75-80% of the time, it's a lateral sprain. This means the tendons and ligaments that stabilize the ankle joint and are located on the lateral side of the foot become stretched too far and tear. This usually happens when the foot is inverted (when someone “rolls” their foot to the outside), and the most common ligament to be torn is the anterior talofibular ligament. Usually there's pain, swelling, and often bruising.

Pathomechanisms:

From a Chinese medicine prospective, not only has the patient damaged the local tissue during the injury, but he has also damaged one or more Meridians that cross the area. Just as when a blood vessel is damaged, circulation is impeded when a Meridian is damage. Qi and Blood cannot flow through the area properly and becomes stagnant. When there is a blockage and no where else for Qi and Blood to flow, it will travel outside the Meridians and blood vessels where it moves chaotically before stopping and clumping. Since Qi is not moving, there is pain. Naturally, damage to the tissue causes Blood to move outside the vessels, as well, and there is bruising. The lack of free flow also causes a build up of heat, thus there is inflammation.

Treatment:

To treat an ankle sprain, we will use acupuncture both at the sight of the injury and away from the trauma. Needling into the area of the injury breaks up the static Blood that is clumping in the area while needling distal to the injury along the affected Meridians draws Qi and Blood away from the area. Additionally, points that have specific actions of invigorating circulation in the lower body or lower extremities may be used. Both needling techniques aim to promote greater circulation and free up the flow of Qi and Blood. This immediately reduces the pain level as the cause of the pain is the congestion in the area. This also works to continue to relief pain as circulation improves over time. Once normal circulating is restored, Qi and Blood can properly move to and through the area to nourish and repair the damaged tissue and Meridians.

Adjunctive Treatments:

Ice is a popular treatment for sports injuries, particularly immediately after the trauma. It is used mostly to prevent or reduce swelling, but swelling is actually a normal and helpful part of the healing process. Swelling is a rush of healthy blood cells to the area to began the repair process. Ice will impede that process. In fact, according to Chinese medicine, cold constricts the flow of Qi and Blood. Compare the flow in the Meridians to water flowing in a stream; in the winter, the stream will freeze and stop flowing. Ice will cause cold to penetrate directly into the site of the injury, often lingering long after the ice is removed. Its constricting and stagnating influence complicates the injury, and treatment will required warming techniques in addition to standard invigorating and circulation-improving treatments.