When your ankle is sprained, the surrounding musculature takes on a load greater than its capacity, causing numerous muscles to shut down. Your body’s amazing ability to compensate often hides this shut down, and muscle failure is subtle unless isolated in movement. A muscle’s failure to fire is called neuroproprioceptive inhibition.

Your brain rapidly interprets information it receives from your eyes, pressure sensations in the feet, sounds, and information from the vestibular system to determine its position in space. Of these systems, the vestibular system is the most critical. Without it, you are likely to experience dizziness, nausea, and you may not be able to stand or walk depending on the severity.

Symptoms can range from numbness or tingling to pricking sensations (paresthesia) or muscle weakness. Areas of the body may become abnormally sensitive, leading to an exaggeratedly intense or distorted experience of touch (allodynia). In such cases, the pain may occur in response to a stimulus that is not normally painful. Serious symptoms may include burning pain (especially at night), muscle atrophy, paralysis, or organ or gland dysfunction.