Hart Nat Hentoff David Horowitz Arianna Huffington Marianne Jennings Michael Kelly Mort Kondracke Ch. My young son sprained his ankle three weeks ago and still has pain when he bears weight. Ankle sprains are the most common injury in sports and have been estimated to occur in one per 10,000 people per day. This averages out to 23,000 ankle sprains a day in the United States.
Most ankle sprains are temporarily painful but, over time, heal without incident.
Unfortunately, however, one or more sprains predispose an individual to future ankle injuries, including further sprains. On occasion, because ankle sprains usually involve sudden shearing stress on the ankle joint, such sprains can pull off pieces of bone from the ankle itself. This is technically a fracture and is commonly treated by casting the ankle for two or three weeks. If your son was X-rayed at the time of his injury and the films were normal, he is safe to wait out the sprain, bearing weight as he can without too much discomfort, and assisting the healing process. I recommend that your son be examined by an orthopedic doctor, so that the extent of the injury can be assessed and proper therapy administered.