Americans experience 23,000 ankle sprains every day.

If you’ve been dealing with ankle pain, it’s hard to know what’s serious and what’s ignorable. Lateral ankle pain can be debilitating, even when it’s relatively mild, because it limits mobility. You shouldn’t wait long to see a doctor if your pain is stopping you from living your normal lifestyle.

Today, we’ll describe some of the signs that you should see a doctor for your lateral ankle pain symptoms. Keep reading and you’ll understand why ankle pain happens and how to deal with it.

Lateral Ankle Pain Symptoms

The most obvious symptom of an ankle injury is pain, especially when putting weight on your ankle/foot. You may experience tenderness, swelling, or bruising if you’ve got an underlying injury.

You know you’ve done something serious if you hear a popping sound at the time of the injury. This is most commonly an ankle sprain, but it could also be tendonitis, which is just inflammation due to strain on the tendons that connect the bones.

If you’ve got a stress fracture, the pain will get worse over time. Other fractures will generate more severe pain to the point that you won’t be able to put any weight on the ankle.

Causes of Lateral Ankle Pain

The causes of the lateral ankle conditions mentioned above are wide-ranging. Ankle sprains come in three different grades, with grade 3 being the most severe.

These can be caused by falls that cause your ankle to twist. Other potential causes include awkward landings when running or jumping, and exercising on an uneven surface.

If you’ve previously suffered an ankle injury, you’re more likely to have it happen again. Those in poor physical shape are more likely to suffer lateral ankle injuries as a result of more pressure being put on the area. Even something as innocuous as worn-out shoes can be the source of ankle pain.

Lateral Ankle Pain Treatments

How your lateral ankle pain is treated will depend on diagnostics. If you’ve got a minor sprain, the doctor may just tell you to take OTC anti-inflammatory medications like aspirin or ibuprofen to reduce the swelling.

For more severe injuries, you may need physical therapy to strengthen the muscles and restore your range of motion. Consider wearing an ankle brace when exercising as well.

When you’re dealing with a fracture, you may require immobilization and surgery in more severe instances. Ankle surgery is often a relatively minor procedure that can be completed using arthroscopic techniques, though very severe fractures may require open surgery.

Lateral ankle pain recovery varies. For minor conditions, it could be a couple of weeks where you take it easy with exercise. Surgeries can have recovery periods of six to ten weeks.

Dealing with Chronic Lateral Ankle Pain

If you’ve been dealing with chronic lateral ankle pain, it could be the result of anything. Our advice is to see a doctor as soon as possible so you can get to the bottom of the pain and get back on your feet as soon as possible.

The Flint Foot & Ankle Institute is Boise’s top option for all foot and ankle care. Dr. Flint is committed to giving his patients the best path to recovery, whether that means surgery or therapy. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.