Ankle Injuries
What are some tips for preventing ankle injuries?
The best tips for preventing ankle injuries is to strengthen the lower leg with a balance beam, or balance ball type exercises. What you are trying to develop is called proprioception, where the ability, the innate ability, of the body to know where their limb is in space. For example, why do athletes tape their ankles and wear high top sneakers? The answer is because the tape and the high tops give added proprioceptive sense to the brain as to when the ankle is starting to roll over to far. Strengthening is the key.
How should a sprained ankle be treated?
Sprained ankles are the most under treated of all injuries. Most people think that they can simply put on an ice wrap and limp on it, or that using ice wrap and crutches is adequate treatment. Studies show that a short course of immobilization with a walking boot or a cast for a week, 10 days, or 2 weeks, and then rapid rehabilitation is the way to go. What we are trying to prevent is converting that sprain , which is a ligament stretch injury, from a grade 1 to a grade 2 or worse, or from a grade 2 to a grade 3.
