Video and Transcript: Sprained Ankle Recovery Exercises

Hi, everyone! Dr. Orit Hickman here, owner and physical therapist at Pain Science Physical Therapy.

So, I wanted to put together a series of exercises for you that would be really helpful if you sprained your ankle. This is really important because a lot of times when you sprain your ankle, you go to the doctor. Maybe they put you on crutches for a couple of weeks, and they say, “Okay. See you later!”

By the way, if you're not sure what an ankle sprain is, check out my first two videos where I talk about the anatomy of the ankle, and then talk about actually what happens when you sprain your ankle. So, let's talk about treating an ankle sprain. Honestly, there are so many things that you can be doing, but I'm going to give you about two or three exercises.

First one is keep the ankle moving. This is the thing that everybody doesn't do. They ice it. They elevate it, But, they don't keep it moving. One of the easiest things that you can do is ankle circles. I would recommend that you do three to five times one direction, three to five times the other direction, and try to do that maybe every hour after you sprained your ankle. The more that you can keep it moving, it’s really good for blood flow, helps with healing. You know, by the way, it prevents stiffness. That's an important thing.

The other thing that you can do to keep the ankle moving is you can draw letters of the alphabet. I like to draw capital letters, but if you want to be creative and draw in script, that's great. Keeping the ankle moving. Same thing. Try to do that. If you're doing the alphabet, maybe do it once every hour. Keep it moving. As you start to feel a little bit better, you feel like you can tolerate it.

One of the most important things that happens after an ankle sprain is that you've actually injured the ligaments that connect the bones to each other. Well, those little ligaments have nerve endings in them. Those nerve endings are called your proprioceptors. Proprioceptors are really, really important because they help us know where our joints are in space. So, after you’ve had an ankle sprain, those proprioceptors might not be working as well.

Why is that a problem? It means that you're more prone to re-injuring and re-rolling your ankle. You’re also more prone to falling or losing your balance. So, one of the most important things that you can do is practice standing on one leg and standing on the leg that you actually injured. Okay?

So, if you have an ankle sprain, it’s really important to keep the ankle moving, and then it's really important to retrain the proprioceptors. And, the quickest, easiest way to do that is practice standing on that ankle. It might not not feel very good in the beginning. Feel free to hold on to something for balance. But, with time, as you practice, it'll get easier and easier. And, before you know it, your ankle will know exactly what it needs to do in space.

I hope this helps. Feel free to give me a thumbs up if you like the video and comment down below. I'd really appreciate it. Thanks! Have a good one.