How long should I ice a sprained ankle?

Question

Sould I also apply heat after a while?

Answer 1

The best treatment for a sprain is RICE- rest, ice, compression, and elevation. Ice can be used 20 to 30 minutes, three or four times daily. After the first day or two you can apply heat for the next 48 hours to help relieve the pain. Elevate the ankle for 4r8 hours above the level of your heart. You can also use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for pain relief.

Answer 2

Yuo should do the ice about 4 times daily, 20-30 minutes each time.
Try a heating pad in between the ice compress & see how it makes your ankle feel. I do not think it will help much as the ice will, but you will know for sure once you try it & see what type of results you get.
Remember to stay off it as much as possible, & elevate!
Take some motrin, with food, as well.

Answer 3

You want to keep ice on it until the redness and inflammation go away. Don't ice it for more than 10-15 minutes at a time, though. You want to minimize blood to the area which is causing the inflammation and edema (swelling). After a few days of resting it, elevating it, and icing it THEN you can decide if it's ready for some heat therapy. You'll know this when there is no more redness and swelling. :)

Answer 4

I badly sprained my ankle about 3 weeks ago. I was in a hurry going down the stairs, lost my balance and landed on a bad side of my left foot, causing my left ankle to be stretched going on the inside. The first 48 hours were excruciating and the pain was un-believable. I've never had a serious ankle injury before.

So I immediately treated it using the RICE method. The following day, the bruising and swelling were so horrible. I found out that I got a second degree sprain and immediately panicked after that. I had a football game on that week and it been looking forward to it because I've been training for rt. I had teammates that had similar injuries and it took them months to fully recover, some of them stopped playing altogether. So I kinda had a short-term depression because I can't imagine myself not being able to run and play sports anymore.

Because I was so desperate to recover again, I contacted a lot of people that I know who do sports and asked them if they had similar injuries. One friend of mine, from the boy's football team in my university, told me about H.E.M. Ankle Rehab. I got a copy 4 days after I got injured. I immediately read and followed what was instructed and felt improvement on the first day. I was able to walk a bit, but I was in pain.

A couple of days after that, the swelling and bruising were subsid-ing significantly and on the fourth day, I was walking comfortably again. Although I've had felt a bit of stiffness, I continued doing what was instructed. My sister was surprised that I have recovered this fast. I told her about this book and was shocked on how effective the procedures were. I'm just so happy that this book was shared to me and how effective it is.

Heal your ankle fully & fast?

Answer 5

Never ice for more than 15 minutes and protect the skin from cryoburn. Icing for more than 15 minutes can create a new internal injury to the underlying soft tissues.

Heat should only be applied after the swelling has subsided.

A good resource is http://www.coldoneinc.com/information.html

Answer 6

hi. you should ice, elevate and compress for 10 mins then break for a few minutes and then repeat this for about 2 hours to really make a difference. it is the same with any sprain or pull really.

good luck/

Answer 7

Well I think you should place 10-15min. of ice, with pauses of 10 or 15 min. You should try walking on it and if the swelling doesn't go down maybe consult a doctor.
Hope this helped:)

Answer 8

No more then 10 to 15 minutes you can only damage the area if you leave it on to long.
If it does not get any better call your doctor or go to emergency room.

Answer 9

24 hours

Answer 10

on 10 min, off 10 min for a couple of days...