All ankle sprains deserve rehab!
Dr. Julia Muller PT, DPT on the blog!
As soon as you roll your ankle, sometimes hearing a pop, you may start to notice some swelling occur right away. Many report that putting weight through the ankle can feel painful and even vulnerable, like the injury may happen again. The natural progression of the early ankle sprain usually involves some type of pain, stiffness, swelling, and sometimes bruising. Walking becomes very challenging and many find themselves limping to try to protect the injury. A quick google search usually produces some form of the outdated R.I.C.E advice, which Dr. Elyse debunks here.
While it’s true that many ankle sprains do get better within the natural passage of 4-6 weeks (some as long at 10-12!), why wait to start to feel better? Those that start PT for their ankle sprain earlier report a quicker decrease of pain, the ability to walk typically earlier (goodbye limp!), regain their range of motion quicker, and get to advance to ankle stability and return to sport training earlier.
What is the risk of the “wait and see” approach without going through rehab? Ankle sprains are the gift that keeps on giving, with 40% of all sprains leading to chronic symptoms such as pain, swelling, instability, and recurrence that persists to 12 months post initial injury. One of my favorite mottos is: “A fear of re-injury is a risk of re-injury” and returning to the court or field when you are “feeling better” at 6-8 weeks without proper rehab to focus on confidence, strength, and stability is always a bad idea. Even if you are one of the lucky ones who doesn’t re-roll that same ankle again in the future, I have seen dozens of clients with a history of an untreated ankle sprain that led to other issues up the chain or on the other leg from compensating.
Did you know that you can be evaluated and treated by a physical therapist the DAY OF your ankle injury? This is an incredibly powerful resource, as physical therapists are trained to screen for signs that may indicate you need further workup, such as going to an MD for imaging to rule out a fracture. If all signs of serious injury are negative, we can get started right away with helping you feel better! Your first visit to physical therapy will include an in-depth assessment of your ankle range of motion, strength, balance, walking, and signs of injury. Our initial goals are to utilize the current comfortable range of motion you do have, activating the muscles around the injury to promote support, and balance and walking training if applicable. We use a variety of tools such as taping, soft tissue mobilization instruments, dry needling, cupping, manual soft tissue mobilization, and gentle joint mobilizations to help the injured area feel safe, decrease pain signals, mobilize swelling, and promote muscle engagement. We also spend time discussing ways for you to support your injured ankle in the early days, such as activity modification, positioning, bracing, taping, and footwear recommendations. Many people leave their first appointment feeling less pain and empowered with tools that they can directly support the healing ankle, without a “wait and see” approach!
What if you had an ankle sprain months, or even years ago, and you are still burdened by symptoms? I firmly believe that all ankle sprains, even the most mild of sprains, deserve comprehensive, progressive rehabilitation. It is truly never too late to build up the strength and stability your ankle craves. Wherever you are at in your sprain journey, we will assess your current status and identify the main deficits standing in the way of your peak performance. The elements of rehabilitation are similar—strength, stability, range of motion, flexibility, activity-specific training—but the intensity of these elements are matched to your current status.
My sincere hope for you is to never think about your ankle when you are in action doing what you love! That confidence is built in rehab, brick by brick, alongside a physical therapist with your best interest in mind.
