ORTHOPEDICS/LEG, FOOT & ANKLE/Therapy & SURGERY
Injured Ankle / Therapy Steps for Speed Recovery
Once an ankle damage occurs, patients want to recover as quickly as possible.
Recovery from an ankle sprain depends on many factors and from patient to another.
Here below, some recovery basic steps to allow the patient resuming speedily normal activities.
- “R.I.C.E.” Therapy
The early therapy of an ankle sprain is the “RICE”, the simple nonsurgical measures that focus on reducing ankle inflammation and alleviating pain:
To remind, RICE is : Relaxation, Ice applying, Compression and Elevating.
- Range of Motion (ROM) Exercises
The recovery main goal is to regain normal ankle motion.
Mobility can be restrained because of pain and inflammation; therefore, in order to effectively treat this restricted motion, we have to eliminate pain and inflammation.
Rarely do damages necessitate immobilization (as in a cast or boot), since most of these damages can be treated with early mobility trainings.
- Strengthening Exercises
Once motion has been achieved, inflammation and pain are lessened; you should start strengthening the ankle.
After an ankle sprain, the ankle will be weak and susceptible to be reinjured.
Ankle-strengthening trainings can help prevent the ankle to be reinjured and to return to normal activities.
Basic strengthening activities include working with a physical therapist to allow targeting specific muscles that may have been damaged.
- Proprioceptive Training
Proprioception is the body’s ability to sense the joint position.
Good proprioceptive training can help preventing the ankle from getting into positions where sprains and damages are more probable.
The restoration the proprioceptive feeling is one of the most challenging recovery features following an ankle sprain damage.
Without the proprioceptive feeling, athletes regularly feel that the ankle still weak, even if the muscles feel fine.
The ankle has a feeling that it may not support you as well as it should.
The ultimate recovery tends to be improved by training the ankle to be a more steady joint and focusing on these proprioceptive activities.
- Sport-Specific Activities
The recovery final stage from an ankle damage is to performing precise activities.
This may include cutting, pivoting, or jumping.
It is significant to perform these activities in a virtual environment before returning to normal sports activities.
When you perform sport-specific activities, your body can be prepared for this activity, rather than having to unexpectedly react to an in-game event.
These trainings allow your body to achieve the recovery last phase with the minimum risk of re-injury.
- Get back to Full Activities
Generally, attempt to realize the following objectives before getting back to normal sports routine:
- No more inflammation
- Normal joint mobility
- Normal joint strength
In order to return to an athletic event, you need first to be able to weight-bear on the ankle. Then you need to be able to walk normally without limping. After that, you need to be able to run, and finally to be able to cutting and pivoting.
In case, recovery had required the use crutches, do not worry so much about getting back to sports activities, just worry about getting your ankle moving normally, and focus your energy on your current therapy.
- Surgery for Sprains
An ankle sprain surgical therapy is rarely necessary.
Surgery is often reserved for patients who, despite the above-mentioned appropriate therapy, have a repetitive ankle unsteadiness and sprains.
When surgery is performed, classically the ligaments that are no longer holding the ankle satisfactorily are restored in order to provide joint steadiness.