First Aid & Home Remedies | Sprains

Hi! It's Lily! I'll be talking to you about sprains.

Have you ever gotten a sprain before? They're NOT fun. I've gotten multiple sprains, some worse than others.

When I was 8 years old I sprained my mid-foot pretty bad. I couldn't walk on it, and I was scared to death to visit the doctor.

The doctor said that some sprains can be worse than breaks because if they're bad enough, they take longer to heal and they even hurt more.

After a few weeks, it was healed and I could walk again!

Do you think you might have a sprain? Read the symptoms and see if you can figure it out.

Symptoms (thanks Google):

• Sprained ankle
  

  A sprained ankle causes swelling, pain, and limited range of motion.
• Sprained thumb
  

  Thumb weakness, swelling, bruising, and pain are symptoms.
• Sprained wrist
  

  Wrist swelling, pain, bruising, and tenderness are symptoms.
• Sprained knee
  

  Symptoms include pain, swelling, bruising, and limited knee mobility.

Treatment:

The treatment is simple. RICE. That's right. RICE. Rest, ice, compression, and elevation really help. What I did was wrap my foot in an ace bandage, applied ice (not directly, but I used ice in a plastic bag against the bandage or wrapped in a towel), and I kept it elevated at home by resting it up on a bar stool. I didn't walk on it, so instead my family went to DI and bought a cheap pair of crutches for me to use. 

You'd probably have to do the same for a sprained ankle or knee. No crutches needed for a sprained wrist or thumb! Actually, please don't use crutches for a sprained wrist or thumb- it'll make it worse.

Remember:
REST
ICE
COMPRESSION
ELEVATION After it's Healed:

Yay! It's healed! You'll still have to be careful around the area of the former sprain. The muscles around where you had the sprain might be a little weaker and can make it easier to hurt yourself again.