05/08/2025
After you sprained your ankle, what do you do? You may think, "I should stop everything I am doing and protect the ankle," or you could choose to ignore it and continue on with a limp.
It may seem counterintuitive, but move it (smartly)!
It is important to dose the correct exercises appropriately. Often, people will come into the clinic completely immobilized, leading to increased swelling and decreased mobility. Or they will be the opposite extreme and tried to ignore that they injured themselves and push through it.
So here is what you should do:
1️⃣ Get inside and prop that foot up!
You want to help gravity decrease the swelling occurring so that it can have a better chance at healing.
2️⃣ Pump those ankles!
By moving the joint and activating the muscles, it will help to pump blood back to the heart to decrease swelling.
3️⃣ Practice your alphabet:
Work on drawing the alphabet with your ankle to help keep your range of motion. This may be a little tender, so watch your intensity and stay within comfortable ranges. As it heals, you may start to notice certain letters getting easier.
4️⃣ Bring out the bands
If it feels tolerable, add in some resistance. It may hurt to stand and do weight bearing exercises, so take some of the tension off and try these from your couch. These include ankle dorsiflexion, inversion, eversion, and plantarflexion. Make sure that it is your ankle moving and not your knee!
Of course, if you had advice from your orthopedic provider or physical therapist that is different from this, listen to your provider!
Check out our previous post on the Ottowa Ankle Rule to check if you need to rush to get an x-ray or maybe just rest.
