How to Begin Ankle Physical Therapy

If you think your ankle is broken or twisted, you may need to consider ankle physical therapy. Off, there are a few ways to check if your ankle is broken or twisted. One is to ask yourself when then injury happened, what kind of sound did you hear. A popping or tearing sound usually indicates a twist, where a cracking sound will usually indicate a break. Can you walk on it? It is probably a sprain if you can put a bit of pressure and walk on it. If you are unable to put any pressure on it (directly after injury) then it is probably a break, or a severe sprain. (Either of which you should see a doctor immediately.) Small fractures are also possible, which may mean that you can walk on it with only a bit of pain ... basically anything is possible. The best thing to do is to see a doctor, because only they can say for sure with their x-rays and experience. They can also recommend which kind of ankle physical therapy is best for you.

If your like a lot of people, and don't want to make the trip or physically can't (because of the injured ankle) and would like to solve this online, there are plenty of resources online about sprained ankles, how they occur, and how to do ankle physical therapy for ankle at home. However, before you start looking for ankle physical therapy resources, rest is the most important step (no pun intended) in the road to recovery. Beginning ankle physical therapy too soon can result in re-injury! Depending on the seriousness of the injury, how long you have to rest depends. It can take anywhere from one day to several days of rest before your body will respond positively to pressure and stretching exercises. Full recovery can take month.

The RICE system is recommended for the first 48 hours, which is an acronym for resting and icing every 4 hours for 20 minutes, followed by a light wrap and keeping it elevated to help take down the swelling and help speed recovery. After that the actual rehabilitation process can be debated, some recommending resting as long as possible to prevent a re-injury of the ankle, others recommending immediate (although slow) use of the injury to promote blood flow, muscle recovery, and the joints range of motion.

Personally, I would recommend the second option. I believe that the earlier ankle physical therapy is started, the less time is needed to get rid of scar tissue, allow for ligaments to stretch to normal flexibility and muscles to be able to withstand normal amounts of pressure. I started massaging it as soon as I could bear the pain (I had an upper level 2 sprain - self diagnosed), Exercises I used included placing my foot flat on the floor with increasing pressure, drawing circles in the air with my big toe, and eventually standing. As I progressed, my home-made ankle physical therapy in Arizona extended to walking in different stride length, stairs, and using a towel to stretch the ankle.

It Took me three days to hurt and move at first, but to my surprise, my ankle felt better and better each day. I believe that although my sprain was more serious, the ankle physical therapy I designed for myself was key to my quick recovery.

If you think your ankle is broken or twisted, you may need to consider ankle physical therapy. If your like a lot of people, and don't want to make the trip or physically can't (because of the injured ankle) and would like to solve this online, there are plenty of resources online about sprained ankles, how they occur, and how to do ankle physical therapy at home. I believe that the earlier ankle physical therapy is started, the less time is needed to get rid of scar tissue, allow for ligaments to stretch to normal flexibility and muscles to be able to withstand normal amounts of pressure. As I progressed, my home-made ankle physical therapy extended to walking in different stride length, stairs, and using a towel to stretch the ankle.

I believe that although my sprain was more serious, the ankle physical therapy I designed for myself was key to my quick recovery.