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Ankle sprains are among the most common injuries, spanning all ages and activity levels. In addition, they’re the top reason for missed sports participation.
When you sprain your ankle, the ligaments that support your ankle joint stretch beyond their limits and tear. Minor sprains typically heal with conservative at-home methods such as rest, elevation, ice, and over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications.
However, if you sprain your ankle and don’t treat it, the damaged ligaments may not be able to heal correctly. The stretched-out and maimed ligaments can lead to not only recurrent ankle sprains but also chronic ankle instability.
If the ligaments can’t heal, you may indefinitely deal with chronic ankle instability. That’s why pain management specialist Don Enty, MD, and the rest of our team at Genesis Pain and Regenerative Medicine in Colleyville, Texas, offer human tissue allograft (HTA) to promote optimal healing and reverse chronic ankle instability.
This month’s blog reviews chronic ankle instability and how HTA can help.
Explaining chronic ankle instability
You can usually recognize chronic ankle instability when you experience its telltale signs: it’s painful, swollen, and constantly gives way. You may also notice that your ankle twists easily, especially when walking on uneven ground or participating in activities that require a constant change in motion, such as basketball.
The most frustrating part about chronic ankle instability is that the more your ankle rolls out of place, the more the surrounding ligaments stretch, damaging them even further. This perpetuates the vicious cycle of ankle instability and loose ligaments that are virtually impossible to break without outside help.
How HTA can help you overcome chronic ankle instability
To re-stabilize your ankle, you need to heal the loose and damaged ligaments, which may require a helping hand.
Here is where human tissue allograft (HTA) enters the picture. An allograft is any organ, tissue, or cell transplant from one individual to another. At Genesis Pain and Regenerative Medicine, Dr. Enty uses placental allografts containing tissues derived from a placenta.
When women donate their placentas after scheduled cesarean sections, they are tested for any transmissible disease. The placenta is then reconstituted into materials that can inject into a damaged portion of the body, such as an unstable ankle, to be used for an HTA.
The placenta contains a large number of growth factors that are vital for both healing and new tissue growth. Within the contents of the placental tissue are up to 150 biologically active proteins that can decrease inflammation and encourage new tissue growth.
By decreasing pain and increasing tissue regeneration, the healing process should be much more efficient, and your ankle can start to gain stability.
To learn more about how HTA can help your chronic ankle instability, schedule an appointment with our team by calling our office or booking online today.