5 Exercises to Rehab a Sprained Ankle

Inversion ankle sprains are one of the most common orthopedic conditions and can lead to long-term impairments including ongoing pain, stiffness and gait abnormalities in as many as 72% of individuals. Furthermore, nearly 80% of those individuals who suffer a sprain are likely to experience re-injury.

A number of studies have demonstrated the positive effects of exercise for treating ankle sprains, but researchers have questioned how the addition of manual therapy might influence outcomes.

In 2013, Cleland and colleagues demonstrated that those put in a manual therapy (joint mobilizations) plus exercise group did better in terms of pain and function than those in an exercise-only group at 4 weeks and 6 months.

There is a lot of hate out there right now for manual therapy, and while I realize exercise has the best evidence, ankle sprains may be one issue where seeing a physio for a combination of skilled manual care and exercise guidance would be wise.

References:

1. Robroy M, et al. Ankle Stability and Movement Coordination Impairments: Ankle Ligament Sprains. Clinical Practice Guidelines Linked to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health From the Orthopaedic Section of the American Physical Therapy Association. 2013.

2. Cleland JA, et al. Manual physical therapy and exercise versus supervised home exercise in the management of patients with inversion ankle sprain: A multicenter randomized clinical trial. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2013.

[boersy]

Yo I rolled my ankle skateboarding and it’s been messed up for like 6 months. 2 weeks into your routine and I’m pain free skating again! Bless up! Thank you for the content

[fragilefn]

Have been suffering with a torn ligament for more than a year. Had visited many specialists, but the pain keeps coming while practicing martial arts. These exercise definitely helped and improves my foot strength! Thank you so much sir 🙏

[kenitsugaming]

I like how you consistencly replied to everyone

[jaynook]

Thanks for this video! I’m 51 YO & rolled my ankle recently, which I had torn ligaments with in my teenage years while skateboarding. Hoping these exercises help with getting my confidence back as I’m trying to stay active & am very encouraged by many of the comments here - thanks!

[peachettte]

Last year when I sprained my ankle I used these exercises as soon as most of the swelling went down. At first I thought "is this guy crazy?? this is too difficult for an injured ankle", but I did them religiously every day for weeks, little by little, combined with other moderate exercise like cycling. A year later, I am not as active anymore and I can feel the ankle hurt here and there, so I am back to this amazing video. Thank you so much for posting and keeping it uploaded ❤

[elephantshelf]

Thank you so much for this! I’ve repeated a sprain after a 3 month heal and have been doing these exercises before and after my walk and I’m seeing daily improvements!

[RobertLoretta]

Hey, I just wanted to thank you so much for your help. Over the years, I've sprained my ankles repeatedly. The worst one happened during my skateboarding years in my teens and the most recent one playing basketball. Your tips have helped loads. Cheers and continuous success on your uploads ✌

[kylesocrazy]

Don’t know if you’ll see this, but thank you so much for this. Sprained my ankle a month ago and I’ve been doing these exercises for the last week and it has progressively gotten better as the week goes on!

[elainelucero]

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! I sprained my ankle over 2 weeks ago and still had very proud little mobility. I started these exercises last night and woke up to a totally different ankle. If you are watching these videos I recommend getting up and getting going.

[lilysonthemoon]

Sprained my ankle a week ago and I’m not terribly sure what to do but I’m so glad YouTube and this video is available!

[jessicasolomon]

I just got healed automatically when practising the first drill.
This is sooo fantastic dude.
Thanks so much from Papua New Guinea💕

[masontope]

1. Knee to Wall
2. Use a band to pull your foot interior /exterior
3. Calf raises on ball of foot
4. Clock reaches
5. One leg squats

[charlesjohnston]

This was actually really helpful my ankle feels so much better after only doing these exercises once so you’ve got yourself a new subscriber keep up the good work man

[haventhompson]

You’re awesome. I have had the worst ankle sprain for a month and a half and my whole left leg has gotten so weak. I did these exercises today and I can feel how effective they are. Can’t wait to see my progress in a couple weeks

[mohamedmohudoom]

Recently stepped into a small hole while playing football and sprained my ankle for the third time in the last 2 months, decided to stop playing for a while and to give proper strengthening to get back to play, thanks for this exercise, I'm gonna try it from tomorrow

[MacTery]

I sprained my ankle 3 weeks ago and thankfully one of my friends advised me to watch this exercise that is definitely making my sprained ankle get better!

[manasmanwani]

Thank so much!! I was struggling for torn ligament for more than a year visited many specialist but it wasn't helping me out but doing this from last 2 week and i can already feel the difference soon gonna be back at my best ❤❤

[starzmarie]

I sprained my ankle during an off-road zombie run 🤦‍♀️ It's been two months and I started exercising again just by taking long walks. I'm so glad to find your video before I try to run again!

[leonguyen]

I can never thank you enough for these live-saving exercises! I got a broken foot and kept re-spraining it for months. It was not until I followed some of the exercises in this video did I almost fully recover and get back to my daily activities.

Again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you❤

[StuthiSavadi]

I sprained my ankle 6 weeks ago while playing football . Thanks a lot really helpful I could feel better by doing these exercises for the very 1st time and now I can play for the upcoming matches soon 😊