Why We Don’t Always Recommend Them
When it comes down to ankle support, you generally have a few options. One would be using an athletic wrap to help stabilize your ankle – two is the use of tape, an even firmer stabilization – and three would be the use of an ankle brace, one of the most common choices.
While all three have possible benefits, ankle braces are usually the most popular choice. They’re an easy and fast way to provide additional stability to your ankle.
Now, when do most individuals end up using a brace? Well – most often – ankle braces are applied to a previously injured ankle that was either sprained or fractured. Here’s the kicker though: if you don’t spend the time actually treating and rehabilitating your ankle sprain, you’ll most likely be in for a long, slow recovery, and there’s also a much higher chance that you’ll re-injure the same ankle in the future.
Benefits and Probable Downsides
If you’ve sprained your ankle recently, an ankle brace can help you get by in the short-term. They do really work to provide extra stability, and come in a variety of protection levels. Although, on the opposite side, if all you do is rest a little bit and then throw an ankle brace on after a sprain, you’re doing yourself a major disservice.
Why? Once you’ve sprained your ankle, a unique set of common symptoms will usually show up – these include bruising, swelling and pain. At the beginning of your injury, you should be focused on immediately assessing the damage.
After you know for sure you’ve only sprained your ankle, getting started with some sort of organized program is the best way to recover from an ankle sprain.
If you don’t take care of the initial symptoms, and general weakness that occurs from an ankle sprain, your ankle will be highly susceptible to re-injury if all you do is slap a brace on it. Plus, without incorporating stretching, balance retraining, and strength exercises, your ankle will end up being weak and uncoordinated, resulting in lost ability and skill.
It’s a slippery path to begin walking down, and can end up causing you unnecessary pain and suffering down the road – so why wait to get started with your recovery?
When Should I Wear an Ankle Brace?
In our opinion, wearing ankle braces should be looked at as an aid, rather than a treatment. While you’re going through your recovery and rehabilitation, it may be a smart idea to wear an ankle brace while partaking in higher intensity activities, if you absolutely have to. You will be much more vulnerable during the early stages of your recovery – the brace can help stabilize and support your ankle during this time.
What do I mean by, if you absolutely have to? Well, I know the feeling of wanting to play in a sports game, or participate in one of my favorite activities. While the right ankle rehab program will help dramatically cut down on your recovery time, some sort of game, activity, or event may be coming up sooner than you’d like. In this case, wearing a brace can provide a little extra stability and support, even though you’re still going through your recovery.
This would really have to be a judgment call that you make for yourself – especially if you know in your gut that you’re not really ready for that specific activity or event. If it does mean that much to you though, by all means, do give it some thought, and decide for yourself.
Sprained Ankle Rehab Program
Now, what should you do if you have a sprained ankle, right now? That’s an easy one – you should get started with an ankle rehabilitation program. And before you click away to find one, you don’t have to go anywhere, because you’re already in the right place.
We’ve consulted with dozens of personal trainers, spent hundreds of hours compiling, assembling, and planning, and have put together an ankle rehabilitation program that’s presented through videos online. This makes it ultra-convenient to use at-home, and another side benefit is that you can get started within the next few minutes – there’s absolutely no waiting.
The program will give you the exact, step-by-step formula to recovering from a sprained ankle in as little time as possible. Most of our clients have been able to walk normally again within the same week, which is a dramatic difference when compared to hobbling around for the next six to eight weeks, or even longer.
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