When you injured your ankle you damaged ligaments, tendons, strained supporting muscles, position sensors in your foot called proprioceptors and you may have fractured one of the 7 bones in the ankle joint.
As soon as you injured your ankle, your body's response was to restrict movement of the injured area to prevent additional damage.
It does this by releasing lymph into the area which causes swelling. The swelling restricts movement of your foot and ankle. So your body is doing exactly what its supposed to.
The problem is that in order to accelerate the healing process you have to get rid of the swelling.
If you follow what 99% of all Emergency Rooms tell you, you'll be using the R.I.C.E. protocol.
R.I.C.E. Stands for Rest, Ice, Compression …show more content…
ACE bandages are a waste of time for the type of support you need in this situation.
After you have the swelling down, then you need to start restoring range of motion, strength and flexibility.
There are several exercises that can be done, but any exercise that you do needs to be weight-bearing and strengthen your ankle in the way that you move normally during your activities.
To state it differently, any exercise that you are using to rehab a sprained ankle should mimic the movement that you would experience walking across uneven ground (your ankle moves in every different direction including up and down).
For starters you can do calf raises. They will help to strengthen your calves and stretch out your Achilles. But calf raises only address one side of the muscles, ligaments and tendons that support your ankle.
You have to address the front of your leg and both sides.
When I was in college and sprained my ankle, the physical therapist told me to put both of my feet inside the legs of a chair and then push them outward to strengthen the outside of my …show more content…
For the inside of my legs they told me to put my feet on the outside of the legs of a chair and push against the legs toward the inside as if I were trying to crush the chair between my legs.
Again, it felt weird, but I did it
As soon as you injured your ankle, your body's response was to restrict movement of the injured area to prevent additional damage.
It does this by releasing lymph into the area which causes swelling. The swelling restricts movement of your foot and ankle. So your body is doing exactly what its supposed to.
The problem is that in order to accelerate the healing process you have to get rid of the swelling.
If you follow what 99% of all Emergency Rooms tell you, you'll be using the R.I.C.E. protocol.
R.I.C.E. Stands for Rest, Ice, Compression …show more content…
ACE bandages are a waste of time for the type of support you need in this situation.
After you have the swelling down, then you need to start restoring range of motion, strength and flexibility.
There are several exercises that can be done, but any exercise that you do needs to be weight-bearing and strengthen your ankle in the way that you move normally during your activities.
To state it differently, any exercise that you are using to rehab a sprained ankle should mimic the movement that you would experience walking across uneven ground (your ankle moves in every different direction including up and down).
For starters you can do calf raises. They will help to strengthen your calves and stretch out your Achilles. But calf raises only address one side of the muscles, ligaments and tendons that support your ankle.
You have to address the front of your leg and both sides.
When I was in college and sprained my ankle, the physical therapist told me to put both of my feet inside the legs of a chair and then push them outward to strengthen the outside of my …show more content…
For the inside of my legs they told me to put my feet on the outside of the legs of a chair and push against the legs toward the inside as if I were trying to crush the chair between my legs.
Again, it felt weird, but I did it