This is especially true for local athletes and dancers. The sooner you can get your sprained ankle back into practicing its normal range of motion, the better. Frisco podiatrist Dr. Verville will let you know how soon you can begin these activities, based on the severity of your ankle injury. Exercises such as using resistance bands, performing toe raises, and doing lunges are great at helping to rebuild the strength you need in your ankle.
Once you are seeing results from your strength training exercises, you should begin proprioceptive training to help prevent future injuries to your sprained ankle. Just remember, start off slowly and easily. Verville for a full evaluation so she can diagnose you and give you a customized treatment and rehabilitation plan based on the degree of your sprain. This motion will feel stiff but make sure to avoid excessive pain. Note: gentle self massage with a foam roller, stick or lacrosse ball on your arch and calf may help with muscle stiffness during this process.
Stand on the edge of a step and let your heel drop below the surface. Hold for 30—60 seconds. Place your foot on a kitchen chair or exercise bench and bring your hips toward your ankle. Bring your knee past your toes and use the weight of your body to push your knee beyond your toes at a point where your heel just wants to lift off the ground. Gently bounce back and forth to promote a loosening of your ankle joint. When bouncing, ensure your knee tracks over your 3rd, 4th and 5th toes.
Place the outside of your foot on the floor and gently push the outside of your ankle toward the ground. Just focus on encouraging a small amount of mobility in this direction. First, stand barefoot on the affected side and slightly bend your knee. Bow forward and reach your opposite leg back. Hold your arms straight out to the side and continue bowing until your torso is parallel to the floor. I call this position the airplane — some call it a single-leg deadlift. Next, return to standing and bring your knee toward your torso.
Keep your arms out at your sides and stand tall. Treating a sprained ankle can help prevent ongoing ankle problems. Rehabilitation rehab exercises are critical to ensure that the ankle heals completely and reinjury does not occur. Start each exercise slowly and use your pain level to guide you in doing these exercises. Ease off the exercise if you have more than mild pain. Following are some examples of typical rehabilitation rehab exercises.
Keep in mind that the timing and type of rehab exercises recommended for you may vary according to your doctor's or physical therapist's preferences. Range-of-motion exercises begin right after your injury. Try doing these exercises then putting ice on your ankle, up to 5 times a day.
These are easy to do while you are at a desk or watching TV. Try the following simple range-of-motion exercises :. Towel curls. While sitting, place your foot on a towel on the floor and scrunch the towel toward you with your toes.
Then, also using your toes, push the towel away from you. Make this exercise more challenging by placing a weighted object, such as a soup can, on the other end of the towel. Start exercises to stretch your Achilles tendon as soon as you can do so without pain.
The Achilles tendon connects the calf muscles on the back of the lower leg to the bone at the base of the heel. Try the towel stretch if you need to sit down, or try the calf stretch if you can stand. Talk to your doctor or physical therapist about the timing of strengthening exercises for the ankle. Typically you can start them when you are able to stand without increased pain or swelling. Do 8 to 12 repetitions of these exercises once or twice daily for 2 to 4 weeks, depending on the severity of your injury.
You can usually start balance and control exercises when you are able to stand without pain. But talk to your doctor or physical therapist about the exact timing. Also, don't try these exercises if you could not have done them easily before your injury. However, without good balance and proprioception you are at increased risk of re-injury. When you sprain a ligament it affects some of the receptors within the tissue that provide feedback to your brain.
These are important as they provide valuable information to your joint on how to protect itself in situations where you run the risk of injury. Balance and proprioception allows you to run down an uneven trail and prevent you falling. It allows you to be able to correct your foot position when you feel like you might be about to go over on your ankle. This is most often not a conscious thing that you do but an automatic loop that goes through your brain.
Balance and proprioception exercises are also progressed through grades of difficulty and initially might be standing on one leg on level ground and eventually end up standing on a foam cushion or balance board with eyes closes.
Hopping on one leg through obstacle courses and other single leg hopping exercises are also another good way to work on your ankle proprioceptive system. This is usually a short term strategy and it is important that you do not become dependent on these.
In certain circumstances where the ligaments are very lax, wearing a supportive brace might be a good idea.
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