Posted On August 6, 2025

Subject: Don’t always believe the 1st opinion...Ankle sprains are common.

What is also common is how they are under-treated by urgent care clinics and emergency rooms.

They are doing their best, but they don’t emphasize the after-care of a sprain.

If an x-ray doesn’t reveal a fracture, they typically send you on your way with an ace wrap and crutches.

You may not know this: a sprain can often take longer to heal than a fracture.

A common reason for this is not taking it as seriously as a fracture in the first couple of weeks.

Because of this, we’ve seen many people who still have ankle pain 6 to 12 months after the injury.

Chronic pain could persist either because the injury wasn’t treated correctly initially, or because there’s something going on deeper within the ankle joint.

Once we diagnose an ankle sprain, we like to get aggressive with controlling the swelling and immobilizing the injured ligaments.

Doing these two things speeds up the recovery process.

If the swelling is controlled and the ligaments are rested, the ankle will typically be significantly better in 2 to 3 weeks.

If an ankle is still swollen and painful after three weeks, we will usually order an MRI to determine if more damage is done than initially thought.

The sooner we can make an accurate diagnosis, the faster we can return the ankle to normal.

Enduring several months or years of ankle pain after a sprain is downright frustrating.

If you are still experiencing ankle pain several months after an injury, we’d be happy to evaluate it.

If you injure your ankle, we’d suggest visiting us instead of an urgent care clinic. You will benefit from a more thorough treatment plan.

We can help you to avoid long-term suffering from something as simple as an ankle sprain.