Ankle sprains are among the most common injuries in sport and in everyday life. Most settle with simple treatment — but a proportion do not, leaving the ankle prone to giving way on uneven ground, kerbs and stairs.
Dr. Vaibhav Bagaria treats ankle ligament injuries and chronic ankle instability at Sir H. N. Reliance Foundation Hospital, Mumbai. Recurrent sprains matter, because repeated instability damages the cartilage inside the joint over time.
The ankle is supported by ligaments on both sides. Most sprains involve the outer side, injured when the foot rolls inward. Injuries to the inner side, or to the ligaments joining the two shin bones — a high ankle sprain — are less common but take considerably longer to recover.
Sprains are graded by severity, from stretching of the ligament through to complete tearing. When a torn ligament heals loose or fails to heal, the ankle is left unstable — and each subsequent episode requires less force than the last.
The classic mechanism, on uneven ground or landing awkwardly.
Badminton, basketball, football, cricket and running on uneven surfaces.
Very common in everyday life.
An inadequately rehabilitated sprain is the leading cause of recurrent instability.
Unsupportive or worn footwear, and heels.
After injury, the ankle's positional awareness is impaired, which predisposes to further sprains.
Recurrent sprains are the ones worth treating properly — each episode can damage the cartilage surface of the joint.
Seek urgent care for obvious deformity, inability to bear any weight at all, numbness or coldness in the foot, an open wound with the injury, or severe pain out of proportion to the injury. Fractures can accompany sprains and need to be excluded.
Mechanism, whether you could weight-bear, previous sprains, how often the ankle gives way, and which surfaces or activities provoke it.
Localising tenderness, assessing ligament stability with specific stress tests, range of movement, swelling, and examination of the foot and lower leg to exclude associated injury.
X-rays exclude fracture. MRI assesses ligament integrity and identifies cartilage damage inside the joint, which is common in chronic instability. Stress views may be used in selected cases.
The majority of acute sprains recover without surgery:
Incomplete rehabilitation is the main reason sprains become recurrent. Returning to sport when the pain stops but before balance and strength are restored is what sets up the next injury.
Where the ankle continues to give way despite several months of proper rehabilitation, where instability limits work or sport, or where cartilage damage inside the joint is causing symptoms.
Sports injury and arthroscopy
Post-traumatic arthritis
Knee cartilage damage
Over two decades of orthopaedic surgical
experience
Internationally fellowship-trained in the USA,
Germany and Australia
Surgery recommended only when it is
genuinely the better option
Among India's earliest robotic joint
replacement surgeons
150+ peer-reviewed publications and multiple
device patents
Structured rehabilitation planned before the
operation, not after
Dr. Vaibhav Bagaria is Director and Head of the Department of Orthopaedics at Sir H. N. Reliance Foundation Hospital, Mumbai, and one of the earliest surgeons in India to adopt robotic joint replacement. Over twenty-two years of practice he has treated patients across the full range of bone and joint conditions, with a particular focus on robotic knee and hip replacement, partial knee replacement, sports injury and arthroscopy, and complex pelvic and acetabular reconstruction.
Name
Dr. Vaibhav Bagaria
Experience
20+ Years
Qualifications
MS (Ortho) FASSI, FNUS, FNAMS..
Speciality
Practice
Schedule your consultation with Dr. Vaibhav Bagaria today
Dr Vaibhav Bagaria
Prarthana Samaj, Khetwadi, Girgaon,
Mumbai, Maharashtra 400004
02261305757
