Restoring Ankle Strength

If you’re looking to restore strength to supportive ankle ligaments that have been damaged as a result of repetitive or acute trauma, you may notice progress by pursuing one or more of the following techniques:

Physical Therapy – Physical therapy is likely the best way to restore strength and function in a joint that has become weak. Targeted exercise challenges the muscles and soft tissues in and around an area so that they can become stronger and more stable. You can connect with a physical therapist for some specific exercises, or you can ask your foot and ankle specialist for a list of PT exercises based on your specific injuries and limitations.

Low Or No Impact Exercise – You may also benefit from some low or no impact exercises. These exercises are less targeted than PT, but they too help to strengthen soft tissues and improve overall joint function. Being overly protective of a weakened joint can cause it to weaken further, so you want to pursue exercise that won’t overload the area with stress. Walking, swimming or moving on an elliptical are all great options.

Footwear Improvements – You’ll also want to review your footwear and ensure that you are putting your feet in shoes that support your ankle joints. Look for shoes that are comfortable, supportive of your natural foot arch and appropriate for the types of activities you’ll be performing. Unsupportive shoes can put excessive stress on your already weak ankles, so make sure you invest in a quality shoe.

Weight Loss – Weight loss won’t directly strengthen your ankles, but it can help to limit the stress they are under day in and day out, which can reduce your risk of injury while you work to improve the strength of your ankles. Weight loss is easier to achieve if you regularly push yourself with low or no impact exercise.

Connect With A Specialist – Finally, you can also greatly improve the strength of your ankles by connecting with a foot and ankle specialist like Dr. Silverman. He can take a closer look at the underlying factors contributing to your ankle weakness, and if conservative treatments still fail to provide relief, he can administer hands-on care. A minimally invasive corrective procedure can greatly improve strength and stability in joints that have been weakened as a result of injury.

The post How To Restore Strength In Weak Ankles appeared first on Lance Silverman, MD - Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Surgeon.

For the study, researchers took a closer look at the ankle strength of a group of Greek soccer plays. Ankle sprains are the most common type of injury among soccer players, and researchers wanted to learn more about some of the factors that contribute to their onset. Researchers did preseason tests of ankle strength and stability for 100 players from four professional soccer teams in Greece and followed the players over the next 10 months. 17 players ended up suffering one or more non-contact sprains during the season.

After looking closer at the data they collected, researchers came to learn that players with considerable strength differences between their left and right ankles were nine times more likely to suffer sprains as those whose ankles were about the same strength.

Researchers believe that when a player is jumping or landing, it is better for their ankle health if they have symmetrical activation of two sets of ankle muscles to help the joints absorb the impact and prevent strains. They also found that heavier players were more prone to sprains, which stands to reason considering their ankles would absorb a larger force when they land or cut.

Dr. Silverman Comments

Major discrepancies in muscle strength is a common source of injury in other areas of the body, so it’s not all that surprising to see the same issue in the ankles. For example, if an athlete has very strong quadriceps muscles but weaker hamstrings muscles, they may be at an increased risk of injury because of the discrepancy in the muscles that work in opposition of one another. While the ankle ligaments don’t work in opposition of one another, if you’re regularly exposing both feet to the same stress patterns and one ankle is significantly weaker than the other, it stands to reason that those athletes would face an additional injury risk.

Aside from working to maintain a healthy weight, athletes should make sure that they are targeting both sides of their body equally to avoid strength discrepancies. Also, if you’ve had an ankle injury in the past, you can’t just rest your way back to full health. You need to proactively treat the problem and pursue physical therapy so that you can return to a pre-injury level of strength. If you don’t, your weaker ankle will always keep you at an elevated risk for another sprain.

The post Ankle Sprains More Likely When One Foot Is Weaker appeared first on Lance Silverman, MD - Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Surgeon.