You may be wondering why you have weak ankles. You may be wondering how to best heal your ankle sprain or you may be wondering what is the best way to prevent another ankle injury. The answer is a combination of rest and physical therapy.
An ankle sprain is common and often heals within weeks. At the same time, there is a risk of consecutive injury or consecutive ankle sprains. You could spend weeks healing only to roll your ankle again. This re-injury is fairly common with ankle sprains, which is why so many people end up with weak ankles leaving them susceptible to multiple injuries.
Most people don’t realize that physical therapy is the most important part of rehabilitating an ankle sprain. The golden rule for an ankle sprain is to prevent any further injury. At the beginning of a sprain, this means using crutches and always wearing an ankle brace but as the ankle heals, it’s weakness needs to be treated or a person take a mistep while walking and re-sprain their ankle.
An ankle sprain is extremely common but with physical therapy, can happen over and over again always delaying the full recovery of the ankle. While a simple sprain seems like you can “just walk it off”, the ankle is weakened by the tendon and ligament damage. This means, because the ankle is weaker, it can not support your body’s weight and balance as well.
Physical Therapy for your ankle is one of the most effective treatments for an ankle sprain. After allowing a few weeks for your ankle to substantially heal, physical therapy is the key to getting back to full health.
