A twisted ankle injury describes a sudden movement that stretches and damages the ligaments in your ankle, resulting in swelling, pain, and usually bruising.
Depending on which way the bottom of your foot turns, the injury is commonly referred to as an inversion or eversion sprain – inversion refers to an inward turn, while eversion is an outward turn.
With a twisted ankle, the ankle may also have been planted on, and then turned either clockwise of counterclockwise, resulting in rotational damage to the ligaments as well.
Whether you call it a sprained ankle, or a twisted ankle, the same recovery and treatment process is recommended for all ankle sprains.
If you’ve experienced a twisted ankle before, you already know the recovery process tends to be long and slow – and honestly, quite frustrating. Many well-meaning friends, or even trainers, may recommend you follow the RICE technique, an acronym that stands for rest, ice, compression and elevation. While this technique is better than nothing, relying on it solely is actually the source of the problem.
Without following through with a complete treatment and rehabilitation program, results will be slow, and you’ll end up taking a much longer time to recover than necessary.
Proper Treatment and Rehabilitation
You’re probably thinking – well, sure, but what schedule and process should I be following? No worries – let’s start at the beginning and work our way through what a proper, fast recovery should look like.
When you twisted your ankle – depending upon the amount of force was applied – you more than likely injured the ligaments on the inside or outside portion of your ankle. As I mentioned earlier, swelling, bruising and pain are three common symptoms that will most likely be present.
Before we can get to the recovery and rehabilitation exercises, we first need to apply the correct principles for the initial treatment to go smoothly. You’ll need to contain the swelling, and begin to reduce it over the next few days.
While resting, icing, compressing and elevating your ankle will help contain the initial swelling, you should also be utilizing a couple additional, unique swelling reduction techniques, like self-massage and contrast therapy.
Both techniques, when applied correctly, can dramatically speed up your recovery time by speeding up the natural processes that help pump out the excess fluid, and alleviate it.
From there, once you have your initial swelling down, it’s best to move onto light range-of-motion movements, like ankle circles and the ankle alphabet technique. These slight movements will be necessary to avoid stiffness in your ankle, and will help break up scar tissue formation.
Stretching, Strengthening, and Beyond
Next, once you can safely walk again with minimal pain and discomfort, you’ll benefit greatly by moving through a phase of stretching, strengthening, and also retraining your balance. By improving these three main skills, you can dramatically speed up your recovery time, and also significantly prevent future re-injury.
Examples of these exercises include dynamic stretching, calf raises, side-steps, squat jumps, and a few others along the way. While arming yourself with the right knowledge can get you pretty far, from here on out, it’s also important that you follow along with an organized, scheduled plan to get the easiest results.
This is why we’ve developed the ACT rehab program, an online, at-home ankle rehab program that’s presented through videos. Within the program, I’ll provide you with the most effective tips, techniques, strategies, and step-by-step instructions on how to quickly and safely recover from a twisted ankle, in as little time as possible.
While results will vary depending on your unique situation, most of our clients have reported walking pain-free within only a few days. To learn more about ACT, click here to get started with your free online consultation.
There, I’ll be walking you through some specifics about your injury, a little bit of the science behind your symptoms, as well as revealing a few little known secrets on successful twisted ankle recovery. If you want to end the frustration, and get back to enjoying your life, get started with your free online consultation right now.
