Healthy Hogwarts
By: Alana Forrester

Hello, my name is Alana Forrester, and I am the Head Healer at Hogwarts. I am beginning a series of articles on how to keep yourself healthy and injury free. The topics for these articles will be based on what I am seeing the most of in the hospital wing at Hogwarts, as well as, any requested topics from the readers. So if you have a health question, please feel free to send me an owl message. This week has seen a lot of ankle injuries. So I thought I would talk about the ankle and how to prevent injuries.

What is the Ankle? In human anatomy, the ankle joint is formed where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle, or talocrural joint, is a synovial hinge joint, which means that it achieves movement at the point of contact of the articulating bones, which are the tibia and fibula in the lower leg, and the talus bone in the foot. The articulation between the tibia and the talus bears more weight than between the smaller fibula and the talus. The term “ankle” is used to describe structures in the region of the ankle joint proper.

The three parts of the ankle structure are the articular capsule, the articular cartilage and the synovial membrane. The ankle joint is bound by the strong deltoid ligament and three lateral ligaments: the anterior, the posterior, and the calcaneo-fibular ligament.

So what is a sprained ankle? A sprained ankle is a common medical condition where one or more of the ligaments of the ankle is torn or partially torn. The anterior ligament is one of the most commonly involved ligaments. Sprains to the lateral aspect of the ankle account for 85% of ankle sprains.

How did it happen? Sprains happen when the foot is rolled or turned beyond motions that are considered normal for the ankle. When an ankle is placed on uneven surface or experiences a large force when landing the ligaments can be stretched into an abnormal position. The ligaments of the ankle hold the ankle bones and joint in position. They protect the ankle joint from abnormal movements-especially twisting, turning, and rolling of the foot.

What is the treatment? A sprained ankle requires treatment by a healer. If left untreated, the damage could become permanent and use of the joint could become restricted and painful. The treatment is pain free and if done within the first 24 hours, very simple to administer. It does require that you spend one day in the hospital wing, but that is just as a precaution. Restricted movement is required for just a few days, with full movement back within a week. Each person heals differently, but most students forget they even had an ankle injury after a week.