UNDATED (Cleveland Clinic) -- Whether it's an icy driveway or fast break, it's not hard to turn an ankle. If you're not careful you could end up with a sprain.
Dr. Brian Donley is a foot and ankle surgeon at Cleveland Clinic. He says there are two types of ankle sprains; "The most common ankle injury is the lateral ankle sprain, which is spraining the ligaments on the outside of the ankle. The high ankle sprain is when you start spraining the ligament, more in the leg that holds the two major bones together. The biggest difference is a high ankle sprain takes much more force to do, so it's a much more significant injury."
Dr. Donley says sports like basketball put tremendous demands on the ankles. He says all of the cutting, jumping, and landing increases the risk of spraining an ankle.
Soccer and football share some of the same demands, but basketball players are at a high risk of landing on somebody else's foot. Dr. Donley says if you do sprain an ankle, the first method of treatment is rather easy to remember.
He says, "The initial treatment that's important for both sprains is what we like to call the RICE method: Rest it, Ice it, put Compression on it, and elevate it and that's essential for both types of sprains."
It could take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks for an ankle sprain to heal, but dr. donley says high-ankle sprains typically do take longer.