Heal Your Ankle And Prevent Future Ankle Sprains
Most people have no clue that Physical Therapy is one of the most important recovery activities you can do after an ankle sprain. An ankle sprain seems like a simple injury, where a person just waits it out and then after a few weeks, the person will be back to normal. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case.
Many people sprain their ankle over and over and have to undergo many months of recovery because they didn’t do what they need to fully heal an ankle sprain. The ankle is extremely weak after the ankle heals. A sprain usually heals in about 4 to 6 weeks of time but still the ankle is weak and wobbly.
Most people, once they starting walking without pain, think they are done with the healing process. They may notice that the ankle feels a bit weak or wobbly but quickly forget about it. Then, a simple little misstep occurs hours or days later and they end up with another sprained ankle.
The ankle has to be re-strengthened after it goes through the healing process. Because the ankle is weak, it cannot support the full weight or balance of a body. Any little misstep can cause the ankle to roll again.
This is why physical therapy is so important. At Cross Bay Physical Therapy, our physical therapists create a specialized program for you to help re-strengthen your ankle. Through a combination of stretching, strengthening, and hands on physical therapy, your ankle will get strong enough so that it doesn’t re-injure.
Here are a few examples of exercises that help get the ankle back to normal:
- Strengthening On A Bosu Ball - The Bosu Ball is an inflatable ball with a flat surface. Patients balance on the ball one foot at a time for 30 seconds to a minute. The ball makes the ankle continually support itself under wobbly conditions building the resilience and strength of the ankle.
- Calf Raises - This exercise builds muscle around the ankle that may have been overworked during the injury. It also helps to support the ankle’s movements. Calf stretching is utilized as well because the calf will often be tight if it is overcompensating for ankle weakness.
Our Howard Beach physical therapists have decades of experience treating ankle sprains. We don’t want you to go through weeks of healing only to re-injure your ankle and spend another six weeks out of commission. If you have a sprain, be safe and come to physical therapy.
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Call (718) 835-0084 and schedule an appointment today!
By Benjamin Bieber