Foot sprain - aftercare

More about Your Injury

Most foot sprains happen due to sports or activities in which your body twists and pivots but your feet stay in place. Some of these sports include football, snowboarding, and dance. 

There are three levels of foot sprains.

• Grade I, minor. You have small tears in the ligaments.
• Grade II, moderate. You have large tears in the ligaments.
• Grade III, severe. The ligaments have completely torn from the bone.

What to Expect

Symptoms of a foot sprain include:

• Pain and tenderness near the arch of the foot. This can be felt on the bottom, top, or sides of the foot.
• Bruising and swelling of the foot
• Pain when walking or during activity
• Not being able to put weight on your foot. This usually happens with more severe injuries. 

Your doctor may take a picture of your foot, called and x-ray, to see how severe the injury is. 

If it is painful to put weight on your foot, your doctor may give you a splint or crutches to use while your foot heals. 

Most minor-to-moderate injuries will heal within 2 to 4 weeks. More severe injuries, such as injuries that need casting or splinting, will need a longer time to heal, up to 6 to 8 weeks. The most serious injuries will need surgery to reduce the bone and allow the ligaments to heal. The healing process can be 6 to 8 months.

Symptom Relief

Follow these steps for the first few days or weeks after your injury:

• Rest. Stop any physical activity that causes pain, and keep your foot still when possible.
• Ice your foot for 20 minutes 2 to 3 times a day. Do not apply ice directly to your skin.
• Keep your foot raised to help keep swelling down.
• Take pain medicine if you need it. 

For pain, you can use ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), or acetaminophen (Tylenol). You can buy these pain medicines at the store.

• Talk with your health care provider before using these medicines if you have heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney disease, or have had stomach ulcers or internal bleeding in the past.
• Do not take more than the amount recommended on the bottle or by your health care provider.

Activity

You can begin light activity once the pain has decreased and the swelling has gone down. Slowly increase the amount of walking or activity each day. 

There may be some soreness and stiffness when you walk. This will go away once the muscles and ligaments in your foot begin to stretch and strengthen. 

Your doctor or physical therapist can give you exercises to help strengthen the muscles and ligaments in your foot. These exercises can also help prevent future injury. 

Tips:

• During activity, you should wear a stable and protective shoe.
• If you feel any sharp pain, stop the activity.
• Ice your foot after activity if you have any discomfort.
• Talk to your doctor before returning to any high impact activity or sport

Follow-up

You may not need to see your doctor again if your injury is healing as expected. Your doctor may want to follow up if the injury is more severe.

When to Call the Doctor

Call the doctor if you have:

• Sudden numbness or tingling
• Sudden increase in pain or swelling
• The injury does not seem to be healing as expected

Alternate Names

Mid-foot sprain

Update Date: 11/15/2012

Updated by: C. Benjamin Ma, MD, Assistant Professor, Chief, Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service, UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Also reviewed by A.D.A.M. Health Solutions, Ebix, Inc., Editorial Team: David Zieve, MD, MHA, David R. Eltz, Stephanie Slon, and Nissi Wang.