Why you do NOT want to be good at rolling
Bet this has happened to you before ☹
Not a fun experience but can be easily avoided.
Let’s have a look at what might happen if you roll your ankle and how you can prevent it.
Ligaments are fibrous connective tissue that two bones or cartilages. Their job is to prevent unwanted movement.
When you roll your ankle, you put a lot of stress through the area. Your ligaments may not be used to this and may cause some over stretching. This is what we call a ligament sprain or tear.
Ligament sprains are categories into 3 grades.
Grade 1: Partial tearing or stretching to connective tissue
You’d normally feel a little discomfort with little to no changes in range of motion or stability.
Grade 2: Larger tear
You’d feel a lot more pain and get some bruising/swelling. You’d also feel unstable and lose some movement
Grade 3: Complete tear/ Rupture
It’s possible that you feel no pain at all but with a lot of bruising and swelling. The complete tear may sever the nerve endings, so you may feel no pain. You’d also feel very unstable with a fear to move and put pressure on your ankle.
All are treatable and have the potential to recover in 6-12 weeks.
The best approach to recovering from a fresh ankle sprain is to:
Protect, with an ankle guard or taping
Decrease swelling/bruising, with taping, needling, soft tissue massage and salt soaks.
Slowly load the ankle. Using the ankle will encourage the body to desensitise from pain while improving the muscle activation in the area.
What a lot of physios and doctors don’t tell you.
The most important thing about recovering and preventing an ankle sprain is working on balance.
Balance work improves the co-ordination of muscles in your ankle, making them stronger and prepares your body for any unexpected events.
Balance work also improves your proprioception, which is your body’s ability to know where it is.
Try this at home now.
Close your eyes and move on of your hands out to the side.
Now try to touch your touch palm with your other hand.
Pretty easy. This is because you had good awareness of your hand.
Now try it again but touch your middle finger.
A little bit harder now.
After you injury a ligament, you lose more of this ability. So every time you roll your ankle, you lose the body awareness of it. This will lead the risk of rolling it again in the future.
How can a physio help?
Physios can diagnose the degree of the ligament tear, by completing a physical assessment, and design a treatment program accordingly.
Treatment options
Physios can tape or provide ankle guards to protect the ankle. Needling and soft tissue release can help with swelling and bruising. Your physio should provide a tailored exercise program to help improve range of motion, strength and balance. This program will help accelerate recovery time and decrease the risk of a re-roll.
Here is a video of some balance exercise you can do to improve your ankle stability and strength.
If you want to learn more about this or want to get checked out by a physio, click here to book or feel free to send an email to admin@aurumphysiotherapy.com or call 0402 832 329.
Thank you for your time.
Warm regards,
