[Last Edited: 06/06/22]
This is an article about the immediate action steps to take when you 'go over' on your ankle while wearing heels, taken from our more complete information for recovering from a sprained ankle. Being in less stable footwear, it's more likely that we can injure our ankles walking in heels.
Can You Bear Weight Through your foot and ankle?
Do you have immediate swelling and tenderness over the ankle bone or edge of the foot?
Can you get your shoe back on and stand up equally on both feet?
Feel around and over the boney parts of your ankle, they will obviously feel a bit sore but see if there is excruciating pain pressing the bone compared to the soft tissue around it. If the pain is from the bone there is a possibility your ankle could be broken so it would definitely be time to end the night out. If not the soft tissue is likely to be the only thing damaged.
If you can stand in your heels and it's just the soft tissue that hurts, you're probably ok to carry on!
Use ice or a bag of frozen peas to take the heat out and reduce swelling - sooner the better for this!
Pro tip: If you're still in a bar, ask a waiter for some ice wrapped in a dish cloth.
Sleep with your ankle on a couple of pillows to improve circulation and reduce swelling.
Drink lots of water - support the body to begin the healing process.
Pro tip: Seriously, this can't be overestimated. It will help your recovery massively.
Early support and rest will help speed up recovery from a sprained ankle.
The Essential Wellness support comes with an elasticated strap and is included with a cross-over design allowing personalised reinforcement where additional support is needed most.
Most importantly - wear supportive flat shoes for 3-5 days after spraining your ankle. If your symptoms persist longer than 2 to 3 weeks the sprain may be more serious.