4 Ways to Treat a Sprained Ankle

Your Personal PT , Rachel Tavel, is a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), so she knows how to get your body back on track when it's out of line. In this weekly series, she gives you tips on how to feel better, get stronger, and train smarter.

Life is busy, but too much running around can lead to unfortunate missteps (both in life and on the sidewalk).

Rolling an ankle is common. Maybe you didnt see that pothole in the sidewalk, you stepped off the curb funny, or you had a bad landing after a layup. Youll often be able to just walk it off, with minor pain that goes away in a few days at worst. But depending on how and what exactly happened, you may find yourself with a sprained ankle.

An ankle sprain is a stretch or tear to any of the ligaments that help support the ankle joint. The ankle joint is formed by the tibia, fibula, and talus bones and is stabilized by multiple muscles and ligaments, including the most commonly sprained anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL) located at the outer (or lateral) portion of the ankle. Unlike the broader deltoid ligament at the inner (medial) part of your ankle, the ATFL is a smaller, narrower ligament that works to help prevent outward rolling. Unfortunately, it can't always handle the strain and with the right amount of force, it can become injured.

Sprains can come in varying degrees of severity, from the ligaments being stretched to being only partially torn or, in more severe cases, fully torn. How you treat an ankle sprain depends on how severe the sprain is and what your symptoms are. But, in general, youre going to want to maintain range of motion and strengthen the surrounding musculature to improve ankle stability and mobility so that you dont spend too much time on the sidelines.

If your pain level is manageable, youre able to bear weight, and swelling is minimal, try these 4 moves to handle your injury.

Your Move :

Ankle alphabets: Lying on your back with foot elevated (especially if swelling is present), try to write the alphabet using only your foot. Keep the knee still and go through each letter so that you move your ankle in every direction to maintain mobility.

4-way resisted ankle strengthening: The four movements of the ankle are plantarflexion (pointing), dorsiflexion (flexing), eversion (moving foot out towards little toe), and inversion (moving the foot in towards big toethe movement that usually happens with an ankle sprain). Apply a resistance band loop around your ankle and perform 2 to 3 sets of 15 reps of each of these movements against resistance. Make sure pull of resistance band is opposite from the direction of your ankle movement. You may need to get creative with your set up.

Heel raise progression: Begin with a seated heel raise. While sitting in a chair, feet flat on the ground, press through the front of your feet so that your heels lift off the ground. Repeat 20 times. If this is pain-free, progress to standing double leg heel raises. When this is pain-free, progress to 2 up, 1 down: While holding onto a support, rise up on both feet so you are on your toes, then remove the unaffected leg by bending the knee and slowly lower down with the affected ankle.

Single leg balance: Practice balancing on one leg. Begin on the floor, barefoot. Once youre able to do 30 to 60 seconds with no problem, try doing it on an unstable surface such as a dense foam pad or BOSU. When this is easy, try doing it on an unstable surface while adding a ball toss, kettlebell pass or movement (deadlift or leg raises to the side). Only do the dynamic movement on an unstable surface once your able to do all the previous exercises with no pain and good stability.