What You Need To Know About Lateral Ankle Sprain

ANKLE

Lateral Ankle Sprain

Ankle sprains are a common injury that we see in a lot of athletes, especially those in sports like basketball, football, and soccer. Once an athlete sprains their ankle, they’re at a higher risk of reinjury. It’s important that they take all the possible precautions to recover ankle strength and stability after injury. MOTUS Specialists Physical Therapy has a long history of getting athletes back on their feet with confidence and strength post-ankle sprain.

Usually a high ankle sprain happens from an extreme external rotation of the talus. The talus is a large bone that sits below the tibia and the fibula aAn ankle sprains occurs when one or more of the ankle’s ligaments tear or over stretch. In around 85% of all ankle sprains, those ligaments are on the lateral side of the ankle. A lateral ankle sprain, also called an inversion ankle sprain, generally occurs from a sudden shift of body weight over a weight-bearing foot. This could be from an action like running, pivoting, or landing a jump. At the shift, the ankle will roll outwards, and cause the lateral ligament to tear. The ligament most commonly damaged in a lateral ankle sprain is the anterior talofibular ligament, which passes along the outer top of the ankle. t the top of the ankle. When the talus ankle rolls externally, it can separate the distal fibula from the tibia enough to rupture one or more of several possible ligaments.

Once a ligament has torn or overstretched, it rarely returns to its prior flexibility. Careful and thorough rehabilitation is important after an ankle sprain. If an athlete does not heal completely before returning to their sport, they’ll be at a high risk of reinjury, and will suffer from suboptimal performance.

Certain risk factors in addition to prior injury can cause athletes to suffer from chronic ankle weakness. Things like age, sex, height, posture, shoe type, and activity can all play apart. It’s important for athletes to learn about the training techniques and tools that will help them build ankle stability, especially if there is a history of injury.

Recovery time for an ankle sprain varies by case. In mild sprains, an athlete could see full recovery in 14 days. A more severe ankle sprain will need additional time to heal. This recovery process can be enhanced with the innovative methods and techniques that we use at MOTUS, like pneumatic compression therapy and NMES. Our team will work with athletes on recovering their range of motion and their stability.

MOTUS specializes in treating athletes of all calibers, so we have experience in treating dozens of ankle sprains. Our list of innovative treatment plans and tools offer a number of ways to effectively lead an athlete through quick rehabilitation and back to their sport safely.