Ankle Physical Therapy

We are not free from risks of injuries and accidents. One of our body parts that are most susceptible to injuries is our ankle. Each day, people performing sport activities will have the risk of hurting their ankles. For instance, some reports state that every day, around 25,000 Americans suffer from ankle sprains. Ankle physical therapy is then needed by people recovering from the injury.  Ankle physical therapy or ankle rehabilitation is important to prevent re-injury and ensure complete healings of the injured ankles. Without the therapy, lifelong problems can occur after the injury. This therapy has several techniques that can be applied. Each technique has different focus and benefits. You should consult doctors or physical therapists to perform the therapy. 

 

Ankle sprain occurs when the ligaments are injured. The injury is usually caused by twisted foot beyond its normal directions. People who suffer from ankle sprain will experience swelling, pain, stiffness, weakness, and other mobility problems. People who have injured their ankles have high risk of re-injury, especially if they have not restored their ankles to pre-injury state. In order to overcome the problem, ankle physical therapy is applied.

During the first 48 hours after injury, injured ankles should be treated by resting them. It can be done by using stools or pillows, for example. The injured parts should also be compressed with ice and later supported by bandages. Crutches or other walking aids may be needed to assist your movement. Next, physical therapists will give you some treatment programs to prevent re-injury. Depending on the level of your injury, ankle physical therapy programs for each case can be different.

Some general techniques in ankle physical therapy are range-of-motion exercises, muscle-strengthening exercises, body awareness and balance training, functional training, and activity-specific training.

1.      Range-of-Motion Exercises

The primary goals or this exercise is to restore mobility of your ankle, as swelling and pain prevent it from functioning. Range-of-motion exercises have several kinds: Plantar flexion (performed by putting foots forward and maintaining your knees straight while mobilizing the injured ankle), dorsiflexion (done by moving the injured ankle while putting foots back towards noses and keeping your knees straight), inversion (accomplished by mobilizing your ankle and turning foots inward), eversion (moving the injured ankle, making toes pointed up, turning foots outward away from the other leg), the alphabet (sitting on a chair while dangling or hanging foots on the higher place and then drawing any alphabet by moving the injured ankle and toe). You need to do some repetitions in performing these exercises.

2.      Muscle-Strengthening Exercises

These exercises aim to prevent long-term instability and re-injury. Full recovery means full restoration of muscles that support your mobility. Some useful tasks in this exercise include sitting on the floor with flat foot pushing wall outwards, pressing injured foot against the other one, and placing the heel of the uninjured foot on top of the injured one. Hold the positions for a few seconds. After doing so, relax.

3.      Body Awareness and Balance Training

Body awareness and balance training aim to correct postural dysfunctions after injury. For instance, your injured foot may move differently with the uninjured one as it gets used to the post-injury positions. Moreover, injured muscles will have higher susceptibility towards unstable surfaces. For example, this exercise will help you to restore your muscles responsiveness to respond your walking environments. It will also help you control your foots mobility after recovery. After you have been able to walk without pain, these exercises are critical to help you return to your regular activities.  One of the most common tasks in this exercise is standing on one leg to challenge muscles around the injured ankles. This task can be done with or without closed eyes.

4.      Functional Training

Being able to put full weight in walking and balance in movements are not enough. As you have rested your injured foots during some periods, they may have not been able to perform normal activities before injury. To progress your mobility, you need to perform functional training. Modified jogging, hopping, and running are among the most common tasks in functional training. They aim to restore your foots’ ability to support your normal activity level.

5.      Activity-Specific Training

Each of us has different types of activities. Some of us are athletes, who perform higher level of sports and workouts. Depending on the specific needs of our occupations, additional therapy may be needed to enable our recovered ankles perform the specific requirements. For instance, a footballer will need to get used to kicking balls after his/her ankle sprains.  

All in all, ankle is susceptible to injury. When someone has to deal with ankle sprains, ankle physical therapy is required to help him/her fully recover the injured ankles. This is because the impacts of injured ankles cannot be underestimated. Besides pain and swallows, failure to restore its functions will likely result in higher risk of re-injury in the future. To reduce the risks, ankle physical therapy, which is performed by doing some techniques, is critical to restore ankle to its normal level of strength and mobility.

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