X-rays see bones not ligaments which are what get injured in a sprain. Ligaments are soft tissues like the rest of your skin and such and hence may not show up well on the x-ray.
There can be some indirect signs but these don’t always occur, for example:
A ligament tear that tears off a piece of bone with it
Widening of the joint space reflecting instability of the joint as a result of a ligament tear
PartTimeBomoh t1_ixpr0t2 wrote
Reply to ELI5: How is it that we can't see sprains in X-ray? My x-ray turns out perfect even though I'm hurting so much. by [deleted]
X-rays see bones not ligaments which are what get injured in a sprain. Ligaments are soft tissues like the rest of your skin and such and hence may not show up well on the x-ray.
There can be some indirect signs but these don’t always occur, for example: A ligament tear that tears off a piece of bone with it Widening of the joint space reflecting instability of the joint as a result of a ligament tear