Are you an athlete who is consistently sidelined by ankle injuries? Have you simply lost confidence in your ankle’s ability to handle the stress you put on it during exercise or normal physical activities? Many people are in a similar position, but you don’t have to just deal with this chronic ankle instability. There are a number of things you can do to reduce or put an end to your regular ankle sprains. In today’s blog, we share some tips for putting an end to your frequent ankle sprains once and for all.
Treating Regular Ankle Sprains
If you’re regularly rolling or spraining your ankle and you want to put a stop to it for good, a first helpful step is setting up a consultation with your primary care physician or a foot and ankle specialist. They’ll be able to take a closer look at your ankle, how it responds to movement and stress, and they can order some imaging tests to take an inside look at the bones and soft tissues in your ankle. There’s a good chance that your chronic ankle sprains are tied to damage to your supportive ankle ligaments, but they can see if any other issues are at play.
Your ankle ligaments provide an immense amount of support and stability to your ankle joint as you move, and when these ligaments are weakened, your ankle can sprain when too much stress is applied. The most common reason for weak ankle ligaments is due to a previous injury. In many athletes, an initial ankle sprain beckons more sprains because of inadequate treatment. Athletes may push to get back on the field as soon as possible, and while pain and discomfort may have subsided, if the ligaments aren’t restrengthened, they may still show the physical scars of the initial injury. Continuing to put high levels of stress on the ankle joint can lead to subsequent sprains, which only further damages the ligaments, and the cycle continues.
Fortunately, it’s never too late to work to restrengthen your supportive ankle ligaments. Whether it’s been seven days or seven years since your original ankle injury, you can still take steps to restore stability in these soft tissues, and this will be the key to putting an end to your ankle sprains once and for all. But what is the best way to do this?
For the majority of patients with mild or moderate ligament damage, a heavy dose of physical therapy is the recommended course of care. Targeted strength training exercises performed on your own or with the oversight of a trained professional can help you slowly and steadily regain strength in these supportive ligaments. Many patients are asked to perform 4-12 weeks of physical therapy exercises, but your specific schedule will be dictated by your injury and your physical activity goals. When paired with other interventions like ice/heat, rest and a gradual reintroduction to high-stress activities, many patients can put an end to their repetitive ankle sprains once and for all.
If the ligament damage is more severe, or if you just aren’t responding to physical therapy, more hands-on treatment may be required. This is where Dr. Silverman can be an incredible asset. One of his specialties is ligament stabilization surgery. During this operation, Dr. Silverman will make a couple very small incisions on your ankle in order to access the affected ligaments. He will then artificially tighten and strengthen the soft tissues using sutures or a similar device before closing the incision sites and sending you on your way.
Patients can expect to be on crutches for a couple weeks before transitioning to a walking boot. Eventually you will be asked to participate in weeks of physical therapy, and a full recovery takes about 3-4 months. The majority of patients say that not only does the procedure put an end to their chronic ankle sprains, but they feel like their ankle is stronger than it was prior to their original injury.
