Tens of thousands of Americans sprain their ankle every day, and regardless of whether you’re a retiree who doesn’t want to be slowed by an injured ankle or an athlete hoping to get back on the court as soon as possible, you want your ankle sprain to resolve quickly. You’re not going to be able to mend your damaged ankle ligaments overnight, but if you are smart about your treatment, you can shave some time off your recovery. In today’s blog, we share some tips for recovering quickly after an ankle sprain.
Fast Recovery From An Ankle Sprain
All ankle sprains are different, so there’s no foolproof way to guarantee that you can get back to normal activities in a specific amount of time after your sprain. However, whatever your rehabilitation timeline may be, if you keep these tips in mind, we’re confident that you can shorten your recovery by a few days.
1. Rest – Don’t try to keep pushing on with normal activities, because your supportive ankle ligaments are already weakened from the injury. Continuing to put significant stress on them can further damage the ligaments, extending your rehab. We don’t want you to stay inactive for a long period, but give yourself a day or two of rest before gradually taking on more stressful activities.
2. Physical Therapy – Perhaps the treatment that will be most effective in helping you shave some days off your recovery period is physical therapy. Whether you head to a PT clinic or you find some exercises online, physical therapy will help to slowly strengthen the affected ankle ligaments so that they can once again handle a normal amount of stress. If you don’t strengthen your ankle ligaments, they will remain weakened even after pain resolves, leaving your ankle unstable and at a higher risk of re-injury. If you want to get back to normal activities, proactively strengthen your ankle ligaments.
3. Ice – Icing can help to limit swelling in the immediate aftermath of the injury. Swelling is your body’s natural response to trauma, and while it helps to protect the area from additional damage, swelling can end up prolonging your recovery because fluids can’t easily get in and out of the area. Ice can help to control swelling and prevent fluid buildup in the ankle.
4. Elevate – Elevating your leg during your rest period will also help to prevent fluid accumulation, which again aids in the recovery process.
We recommend that you pursue all of these techniques while you’re working to overcome your sprained ankle, but the most important treatment technique is physical therapy. Gradual reintroduction to strengthening exercises and physical therapy will help your ankle heal faster and become stronger than it was prior to your injury, decreasing your risk of a recurrence down the road.