Ankle injuries are common, especially among athletes and active individuals, but they can happen to anyone due to a sudden twist, fall, or awkward movement. Whether it’s a sprain, strain, or even a fracture, proper rehab is essential for full recovery, and physical therapy can help you avoid this happening over and over again throughout the years.
Why Physical Therapy?
When you injure your ankle, it’s not just about healing the damaged tissue; it’s about restoring strength, flexibility, and stability. Physical therapy helps you regain normal movement while preventing future injuries. After an ankle injury, the muscles, tendons, and ligaments around the joint may become weak or tight due to disuse or inflammation. Without proper rehab, this can lead to chronic instability, increased risk of re-injury, and long-term discomfort.
What to Expect from Physical Therapy
1. Pain Relief and Swelling Reduction:
The initial focus of therapy is to control pain and reduce swelling. This is often done through ice, compression, elevation, and light movement exercises that don’t strain the injured area. However, there is a growing body of evidence that ice in the hours immediately after an injury could actually delay the healing. Inflammation is not bad in the proper context. Immediately after an injury is the proper context and will bring an influx of blood flow packed with healing nutrients and infection fighting warriors. We don't want to blunt this.
2. Range of Motion Exercises:
Within your pain tolerance, the initial goal is to gently restore your ankle’s range of motion. These exercises help prevent stiffness and ensure the joint can move properly. This can be a great opportunity to use a muscle floss band around the ankle or foam roller
3. Strengthening Exercises:
Strengthening the muscles around your ankle is essential for stability. In our sessions we will typically incorporate weight training, resistance bands, bodyweight exercises, or specific movements like calf raises to build strength without overstraining the injured area.
4. Balance and Proprioception Training:
An important part of rehab is retraining your body’s balance. Ankle injuries often disrupt proprioception—your body’s ability to sense its position in space. Balance exercises, like standing on one leg or using an unsteady surface, help rebuild this sense, which is crucial for preventing future injuries.
5. Gradual Return to Activity:
We create a personalized plan to gradually reintroduce you to normal activities, whether it’s walking, running, or returning to sports. This phased approach reduces the risk of re-injury by allowing your ankle to regain full strength and flexibility. If you are a runner, you may be familiar with the training principal of not increasing volume by more than 10% week over week when training for a race. A similar principal holds true for after an injury. BE INCREMENTAL. Slow is fast in the long run.
The Long-Term Impact
The benefits of physical therapy extend beyond immediate recovery. A well-structured rehabilitation program helps ensure that your ankle regains full function, minimizing the chances of chronic pain or recurrent injuries. It also teaches you strategies for managing future ankle issues, including stretches and exercises you can incorporate into your regular routine to maintain ankle health. If you suffer from chronic ankle injuries, give us call and we will get you headed in the right direction.
