How Long does a Sprained Ankle take to Heal & Its Common Causes?

Sprained Ankle is an injury which occurs when the ankle rolls, twists, or turns in a very awkward and painful way. This tear or stretches the tough bands of ligaments or tissue which helps to hold the bones of the ankle together. Injuries of the ankle are way too common and they are a real pain, especially when they sideline you from doing physical activities. 

The time that a sprained ankle usually takes to recover or heal actually depends on a lot of factors, majorly on the grade or severity of the injury. Grades 1 and 2, which are considered to be mild and moderate, take less time, while Grade 3 can take longer. So if you wonder how long does a sprained ankle take to heal and want to know a specific timeline, then we got everything covered in this article below.

As you scroll down, you will find out complete details about Sprained ankle, such as how long it’s recovery takes, different types of ankle sprains, its common causes and much more. So just keep reading below to check out all the information. 

How Long does a Sprained Ankle take to Heal?

It is observed in a lot of research that almost 2 Million people experience acute ankle sprains every year, and so it is considered to be one of the most common musculoskeletal injuries. The major question that people usually have about a sprained ankle is its healing time, because it is believed that it takes a long time to recover. So the complete healing time actually depends on factors like grade or seriousness of the sprain. So if we talk about the total time that it takes to healing, then-

1. Injuries of Grade 1 and 2 which are mild and moderate take around 3 to 6 weeks to recover. 
2. Injuries of Grade 3 take a few months to recover, which is between 3 to 6 months. 

And so getting the right treatment is the only key for proper and timely recovery.  A few things that can help you get back faster are as follows-

1. Rehabilitation 
2. Diagnosis
3. Proper Rest

Different Types of Ankle Sprains And Respective Healing Time

As you already got a brief idea on how long does a sprained ankle take to heal, below provided is a detailed overview on the same to understand it better. So when we talk about the recovery time of a sprained ankle, it is highly determined by its severity. So sprains are generally defined by grades and are ranked from mild to severe. The average healing time correspond to these different grades, which are as follows-

1. Grade 1 or first degree (mild)- 3 to 5 weeks
2. Grade 2 or second degree (moderate)- 4 to 6 weeks
3. Grade 3 or third degree (severe)- 3 to 6 months

Now, some more details on these 3 Grades are as follows-

1. First Degree or Grade 1 Ankle Sprain- In this, a mild tear of the ligament happens that causes mild pain and swelling and so recovers quicker than the other two. This grade ankle sprain takes around 3 to 5 weeks to heal. But some people can take less time as well as more time, like 4 to 5 weeks.
2. Second Degree or Grade 2 Ankle Sprain- This is a little more serious than the first degree sprain and involves 50% of ligament tearing, which results in more pain, swelling and loss of mobility. And it takes between 4 to 6 weeks to completely heal. 
3. Third Degree or Grade 3 Ankle Sprain- In this, a complete tear of ligament happens and takes much longer time to heal, which goes between 4 to 6 months. So you need to have some patience with this degree as it easily takes months to reconnect and heal properly.

What are the Common Causes of Sprained Ankles?

As you read above about how long does a sprained ankle take to heal, let us now find out what exactly causes it. So a lot of people manage to recall the moment when they got the strain, but others have to really think about what exactly they were doing and how it affected the ankle. So some of the most common causes of ankle sprain includes the following-

1. Jumping and then landing hard on your foot.
2. Falling down badly.
3. Walking or running on surfaces that are not even.
4. Sports that require you to twist or roll your foot or any cutting action.
5. Someone landing or stepping on your foot.
6. One more cause of ankle sprain could be a previous sprain.

All the movements mentioned above involve the lower leg or foot to experience a random roll or force of twist, which eventually forces the joint of the ankle to move out of the normal position. 

So What is the Best Way to Treat a Sprained Ankle?

Finally after knowing how long does a sprained ankle take to heal and its common causes, let us find out how to treat it the right way. So the best way to treat the ankle sprain actually begins by doing a proper diagnosis and then following a treatment plan. It is not really uncommon to be misdiagnosed for an ankle sprain, but the complications can be avoided by following a good program of physical therapy, as follows-

RICE- So the very first step to take after an injury is to-

1. Rest
2. Reduce swelling
3. Prevent any further injury

And the other way to define it, as per recommended by AAOS is-

1. Rest the ankle
2. Ice it for 20 minutes, at least 3 to 4 times a day
3. Apply compressor
4. Elevate the foot

And if the condition starts to become better and surgery is not needed, then you can simply move to the next phases of recovery & rehab.

Conclusion

Thus, this is complete information on how long does a sprained ankle take to heal, what are the different types of ankle sprains with their respective healing time and what are the most common causes of it. So if you experience it anytime in future, you know how long you need to wait for complete healing!