1:12pm Friday 3rd April 2009
By Kate Sheehy
'It's All In The Balance'
Last year I sprained my ankle and ever since I keep going over on it, is there anything can I do to help it?
Yes indeed, you can improve your ankle with the right exercises to retrain proprioception. Let me explain : The ankle joint is a mortise arrangement and the lateral ligament (on the outside) is particularly vulnerable to sprains and strains. Ligaments run from bone to bone, the lateral ligament, runs from the fibula to the heel. When you go over on your ankle your foot usually turns in and the fibres of the ligament are pulled apart , if it's a mild strain there will be some swelling and tenderness over the outer aspect of your ankle, sometimes there is bruising and discolouration after a few days and it tends to trickle down towards the sole of your foot. more severe injuries will cause massive swelling and extreme pain, you may need to be seen at casualty and a check x-ray might be required to see if the force of the injury has yanked off the base of the fibula bone. If that's the case you'll end up in plaster for a few weeks, and you msy need to use an ankle support long term, but the minor/ moderate sprains need RICE - that's rest, ice, compression and elevation to reduce the swelling and promote healing. Taping the ligament helps to support it while it's mending and also makes it less painful to walk around, (a graduated return to light activity is a good thing). Ligament repair times vary depending on how extensive the injury was but all ankle ligament sprains benefit hugely from exercises to retrain your balance; this is because the ankle ligament is full of special nerve receptors which send information to your brain about where your foot is in relation to the ground beneath you so that your brain can send information back down about how to keep your balance - clever stuff!
These receptors are basically knocked off at the time of the injury and during repair, they don't return to normal function unless you retrain them . If you keep going over on your ankle it's often because your balance reactions are slow and imprecise, plus of course, each time you go over on it again, even though it may not be so dramatic, you still lose more receptors . Retraining your balance is essential after an ankle sprain and it will make a big difference in your case, , even though it's a year since you sprained it. All you have to do is practice standing on one leg- compare how good your balance is on the sprained one compared to the other one and you'll see the difference. As your balance improves, you can progress the difficulty (and in doing so, improve the condition) by practising balance on one leg, while bending and straightening the knee, eyes open / eyes closed, of course you need to set up a safe place to practice so that you don't fall over or hurt yourself, a good idea is to practice at home, standing in a doorway, so that you can put your hands up to the frame if you feel the need to steady yourself. When you get really good you can try more dynamic balance practice, things like landing from a low step and holding your balance. You can always check back to see how good the other leg is, keep progressing the balance work and it will make a tremendous difference to your ankle, this is so much better in the long run, your ankle joint will be better protected. Good Luck !
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