i'm sorry you injured your ankle. that's always painful! the usual treatment for this type of injury is rest-ice-compress-elevate (rice). why is this what we recommend? because it helps keep swelling down. excessive swelling at the injury site can interfere with the body's ability to heal the injury quickly. because you want to manage the swelling you should leave the compression bandage on during the night. there's no reason to "air" the injured ankle or anything like that. you want to maintain compression for at least a few days. if you're self-treating this twisted ankle be sure you don't apply the compression wrap too tightly. your toes should not turn red or purple and you should be able to wiggle all your toes and have feeling in them. after two or three days you probably don't need to maintain a compression bandage anymore. if the injury was treated by a health care professional they should have instructed you how long to leave the wrap on. by the way it's ok to remove and immediately re-wrap the injury. as the swelling goes down the bandage will become loose. you will want to re-wrap it daily to maintain the pressure. wishing you well!
should i remove the compression bandage on my twisted ankle at night?