Foot Sprain in Soccer

This is a common soccer injury that overstretches one or more ligaments in your foot. The strain will also affect your muscles or tendons. Symptoms of a foot sprain include following:

• Pain while moving or stretching the injured foot

• Tenderness and swelling in your foot

• Spasm in the muscles of your foot

Diagnosis
The orthopedic expert will generally examine your injured foot by comparing it with the other one. He will look for swelling or bruising, changes in flexibility, press and feel your injured foot in order to check for tenderness or bone abnormalities.

Preventing and treating
You can prevent this type of injury by stretching and strengthening the muscles of your tendons around your feet. Keep in mind to never forget the importance of warm up. Try also to purchase shoes with good support. If you have been recently injured you should consider using tape or ankle support before joining your soccer game.

If the pain does not improve within a week or so you should consider consulting a doctor. Immediately after an injury use the R.I.C.E method which means rest, ice (plenty of it) compression and elevation. Ice should be applied the first 24 hours. Using an ankle support is great for compressions around your foot. Participating in different stretching and strengthening exercises may also help you recover faster.

Conclusion
Having this type of injury is never fun. I know by experience how frustrating it can be to see my other teammates running around and kicking the ball while I am standing there with a pair of crutches. When talking about sprains in soccer I have learned two main things. The first one is to never underestimate the importance of a proper warm up routine.

You really need to take this one seriously and to put big effort during your teams warm up. The second thing I have learned is to never start to participate in your regular soccer training to early after a sprain injury. The risk of getting injured again is too big! I don’t know how many times I have increased my injury period by starting to play soccer too early.