Ask Dr Mel: Eye pressure check and sprained ankle

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Every week Woman's Weekly doctor Melanie Wynne-Jones answers your health problems. This week she answers questions on eye pressure checks and sprained ankle.

Q My optician always checks for raised pressure in my eyes. What problems could this cause?

A The fluid inside your eyeball is constantly being renewed and drains away through channels at the front of the eye. If the balance is disturbed, fluid can build up, leading to raised pressure on the optic nerve at the back of the eye, and damage to the tiny nerve fibres which send information back to the brain.

This is called glaucoma, but because it happens so slowly, we often don't notice until our sight is severely affected.

Glaucoma is the most common cause of irreversible blindness worldwide, and that's a tragedy, because sight loss can be prevented by early detection and treatment.

Around 500,000 people in the UK have it, but half of these are missing out on treatment because they don't go for regular eye tests (which can also detect diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as other eye diseases).

You're especially at risk if you're over 40 years of age, are short-sighted, are of African or Caribbean ethnic origin, have a close affected relative, or have diabetes (in which case, you may be eligible for a free eye test).

If glaucoma is suspected, you will need regular, more complex checks on your eyes and their nerve fibres; eye drops to help reduce the pressure should keep your eyes safe.

Q I was given a support bandage when I sprained my ankle, but it hurt for weeks afterwards. Was there anything else I could have done?

A A severe ankle sprain can hurt just as much as a fracture - it means you've damaged the ligaments that anchor the calf muscles and stabilise the ankle, and often produces severe swelling and bruising.

As with any injury, first aid is important, so if it happens again, take the weight off your ankle, put your feet up, take a painkiller and apply ice cubes (wrapped in a tea towel) for ten minutes, every four hours.

If it's too painful to walk, you may need an X-ray to check it isn't broken - more than 1 million of us take our sprained ankles to accident-and-emergency departments each year.

Traditional advice is to use compression, for example, a pull-on tubular bandage, or firmer strapping for more severe sprains.

But recent UK research states that wearing a plaster cast for 10 days is much better for relieving pain and gets people back to normal activities more quickly. Plaster casts cost ten times more than bandages, but the researchers say that they're actually more cost-effective. I hope that you don't sprain your ankle again, but if you do, don't be surprised if you're offered a plaster cast.

- Read more expert health advice from Dr Mel

Note: Advice given here is for general information only and is correct on date of publication 19th May 2009, but may be subject to change. Please seek help from your own GP if you have a medical problem.

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