Herbal Comfrey(Symphytum officinale L.), a Natural Treatment for Unilateral Ankle Sprains

By Kyle J. Norton

 Ankle sprains are the most common injury in the sport associated with overstretching of fibers or of the collagen of the ankle ligaments, causing the partial or complete disruption of the fibers.

In athletes with acute lateral ankle sprains, the balance ability in patients with acute lateral ankle sprain was significantly weaker. The weight-bearing on the nondominant limb was found to be significantly higher than on the dominant limb.

Treatment is totally depending on the severity of the condition, including

* Rest by avoiding activities that cause pain, swelling or discomfort.

* Ice treatment with an ice pack or ice slush bath immediately for 15 to 20 minutes and repeat every two to three to relieve pain and swelling.

* Compression is effective to stop swelling.

* Elevation

By keeping your foot elevated has been found to decrease pain and swelling. 

And 

* Medications

Over-the-counter pain relievers — such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) or naproxen sodium (Aleve, others) or acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) have been used to manage the pain of a sprained ankle.

* Surgery

In some cases, surgery may be necessary if the repair a ligament that won't heal or won't heal properly, or the reconstruction of ligament tissues.

Comfrey is a perennial plant in the genus of Symphytum, belonging to the family Boraginaceae, native to Europe. It has been used in herbal and traditional medicine to ease excessive bleeding or on open wounds, relief pain and swollen, treat circulation issues, reduce cholesterol, etc.

On finding a potential compound for the treatment of diseases associated with ankle pain, researchers compared the efficacy of comfrey extract to a commercial diclofenac (CAS 78213-16-8) preparation in the treatment of unilateral ankle sprains.

The observer-blind, randomized, multi-center clinical trial with two independent treatment groups "comfrey extract" and "diclofenac gel" (parallel-group design) included a total of 164 patients (82 in the comfrey group and 82 in the diclofenac group, intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis) was conducted by the Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi.

According to the results of the tested assay, the area under the curve (AUC) of the difference of the tenderness values contra-lateral minus injured side, pain at rest and on movement, and swelling and ankle movement were significant improved in the comfrey group, compared to the diclofenac group.

Furthermore, on average of mean difference comfrey extract minus diclofenac, the AUC was +61.1 h x N/cm2 greater for patients treated with comfrey extract compared to diclofenac group (95% confidence interval: 19.08; 103.09 h x N/cm2). 

The difference between the two treatment groups was statistically significant (analysis of variance with factors "study drug", "centre", and "drug x centre interaction") as the comfrey group showed a far better result in the treatment of unilateral ankle sprains.

There were no side effects during the treatment periods in both groups.

Based on the findings, researchers said, " The re-evaluation of the data showed the superiority of the plant-based ointment over the diclofenac gel in the treatment of distortions".

Taken altogether, Comfrey plant-based ointment combined with other herbal medicine may be considered a remedy for the treatment of unilateral ankle sprains, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Comfrey extract ointment in comparison to diclofenac gel in the treatment of acute unilateral ankle sprains (distortions) by D'Anchise R1, Bulitta M, Giannetti B. (PubMed)