DD17 sprained ankle twice in six months?

[worriedmother1929]

In April, DD sprained her ankle after she slipped over at school. It was a pretty severe sprain and she was on crutches for a week, and it was still swollen and occasionally painful for months after. On Monday, she fell off the side of a path walking home, and sprained it again. It wasn't as bad and she has been walking on it (she says it is still painful, but she has had to walk on it as she has work experience). It's swollen and bruised today (Thursday), but she says that it's less painful, and not as bad as before.

My question is will she have any lasting effects? Before this sprain it was swollen and painful, so would it be worse now? Is there anything I can do to help her, such as getting her an ankle support or suggesting some exercises to help strengthen it? (She wants to be a teacher and she'll obviously have to be on her feet all day, and I obviously don't want her to be in pain).

[yeOldeTrout]

You could ask about physio to help it heal better.

(I was told & it seems true ime) Any ligament injury received b4 the age of 19yo is prone to recur in rest of one's life. It's just one of those sucky things, a slight weakness to manage. Being not overweight & generally fit will help reduce the risk of repeat injury.

[worriedmother1929]

I'll look into it

She just seems to have to worst luck, first time it was a toilet floor that wasn't cleaned properly, this time she just didn't look properly

[yeOldeTrout]

Friend broke both ankles stepping out door to put something in her bins. She wasn't even drunk (!!) Hope your DD feels better soon.

[AhAgain]

Some people are prone to ankle sprains and after you have a bad sprain, you can be more prone to doing it again (and again and again...).

The best thing is to see a (good) physio. Get it checked out and - very importantly - get some ankle strengthening exercises (and do them, regularly abc in the future too). The best defence against doing it again is strengthening the ankle and keeping it strong.