You fell and sprained your ankle and you do not want to go to a doctor for just a sprained ankle. You want to treat the ankle sprain yourself but do not know how. Ankle sprains are easy to treat. First off you have to make sure the ankle is sprained and not broken. If you are unable to tolerate any weight on your ankle at all, you most likely have broken your ankle and should proceed to the nearest ER. If you think you have broken your ankle go to the ER. The sooner your broken ankle is treated the better. But, for those of you with a sprained ankle, it is easy to treat.
The first thing you should do is stay off the ankle as much as possible. In reality, the best treatment for a sprained ankle is to rest the ankle as much as possible. When you are resting the ankle roll up two towels and place them under your leg, this will elevate the leg and help reduce swelling. The third step to take is to ice down the ankle with ice, generally 20 min/hour will do the trick. This company has all kinds of gadgets that make icing down an ankle easier:
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The fourth treatment that you should start immediatly is to compress the ankle and for that all you need is an ace wrap, and wrap it around the ankle. Ideally, someone else would do this for you, as they will be able to add more compression while wrapping the ankle. Now for pain control take a Motrin or Tylenol and take them regularly about every six hours for the first 48 hours of your ankle sprain. If the Motrin or Tylenol cannot control your pain, you need to go to a doctor as this would indicate you may have a fracture.
Now following the first 48-72 hours some ankles will be as good as new. But, if your ankle is not as good as new, then purchase an ankle stirrup like the ones below. This will provide stability and pain relief to your ankle.