Physical therapy is a great way to help you recover from your injury and get back on your feet as quickly as possible.
It’s important to rest and ice your ankle to help relieve the initial symptoms of a sprained ankle, and physical therapy can play an important role in getting you back into motion. Fortunately, in many cases, physical therapy can help reduce symptoms and restore function associated with a high ankle sprain. For high-grade 1 and 2 ankle sprains, conservative management of physical therapy is often effective in reducing symptoms and restoring function.
The following are 8 ways physical therapy can help you recover from your ankle injury:
1. Restore Range of Motion
Restoring range of motion will help you get back on your feet and be able to walk without pain or discomfort. This can be done by using modalities like ultrasound or electric stimulation.
2. Strengthen Weak Muscles
Ankles need strong muscles on all sides to support the joint. The muscles on the outside need to be strengthened so they can provide stability while walking or running.
3. Reduce pain
Physical therapists will use a variety of techniques to help reduce the pain in your ankle joint and foot such as
4. Improve mobility and stability
Physical therapists help you in improving mobility by using exercises that will strengthen muscles around the ankle joint and feet while also improving balance and coordination.
5. Identify the severity of the injury
Physical therapists examine the condition according to their symptoms. For instance, a low ankle sprain causes minimal soreness and pain. On the contrary, a high ankle sprain can cause severe pain and seriously affect your ability to stand, walk, or exercise.
6. Improve proprioception (joint position sense)
Physical therapists teach you strengthening exercises for these muscles to help you control your ankle and improve your sense of joint position. When you sprain your ankle, these receptors and our muscles cannot do their job well, which can lead to poor balance and difficulty performing normal activities such as walking.
7. Prevent future injuries
A physical therapist can help you learn movements and stretches that can help prevent future ankle injuries.
8. Reduce swelling
Your physical therapist may use a variety of treatments and techniques to manage and reduce pain and swelling. These include ice, heat, ultrasound, electrical stimulation, tape, special exercises, and hands-on treatments, such as soft tissue massage.
