Ankle Sprain Rehabilitation Exercises
As soon as you can tolerate pressure on the ball of your
foot, begin stretching your ankle using the towel stretch.
When this stretch is too easy, try the standing calf
stretch and soleus stretch.
- Towel stretch: Sit on a hard surface with your
injured leg stretched out in front of you. Loop a towel
around the ball of your foot and pull the towel toward
your body keeping your knee straight. Hold this position
for 15 to 30 seconds then relax. Repeat 3 times.
- Standing calf stretch: Facing a wall, put your
hands against the wall at about eye level. Keep the
injured leg back, the uninjured leg forward, and the
heel of your injured leg on the floor. Turn your
injured foot slightly inward (as if you were
pigeon-toed) as you slowly lean into the wall until you feel a
stretch in the back of your calf. Hold for 15 to 30 seconds.
Repeat 3 times. Do this exercise several times each day.
- Standing soleus stretch: Stand facing a wall with
your hands at about chest level. With both knees
slightly bent and the injured foot back, gently lean
into the wall until you feel a stretch in your lower
calf. Once again, angle the toes of your injured foot
slightly inward and keep your heel down on the floor.
Hold this for 15 to 30 seconds. Return to the starting
position. Repeat 3 times.
You can do the next 5 exercises when your ankle swelling has
stopped increasing.
- Ankle range of motion: Sitting or lying down with your
legs straight and your knee toward the ceiling, move your
ankle up and down, in and out, and in circles. Only move
your ankle. Don't move your leg. Repeat 10 times in each
direction. Push hard in all directions.
- Resisted dorsiflexion: Sit with your injured leg out
straight and your foot facing a doorway. Tie a loop in
one end of the tubing. Put your foot through the loop so
that the tubing goes around the arch of your foot. Tie a
knot in the other end of the tubing and shut the knot in
the door. Move backward until there is tension in the
tubing. Keeping your knee straight, pull your foot toward
your body, stretching the tubing. Slowly return to the
starting position. Do 3 sets of 10.
- Resisted plantar flexion: Sit with your leg outstretched
and loop the middle section of the tubing around the ball
of your foot. Hold the ends of the tubing in both hands.
Gently press the ball of your foot down and point your
toes, stretching the tubing. Return to the starting
position. Do 3 sets of 10.
- Resisted inversion: Sit with your legs out straight and
cross your uninjured leg over your injured ankle. Wrap
the tubing around the ball of your injured foot and then
loop it around your uninjured foot so that the tubing is
anchored there at one end. Hold the other end of the
tubing in your hand. Turn your injured foot inward and
upward. This will stretch the tubing. Return to the
starting position. Do 3 sets of 10.
- Resisted eversion: Sit with both legs stretched out in
front of you, with your feet about a shoulder's width
apart. Tie a loop in one end of the tubing. Put your
injured foot through the loop so that the tubing goes
around the arch of that foot and wraps around the outside
of the uninjured foot. Hold onto the other end of the
tubing with your hand to provide tension. Turn your
injured foot up and out. Make sure you keep your
uninjured foot still so that it will allow the tubing to
stretch as you move your injured foot. Return to the
starting position. Do 3 sets of 10.
You may do the rest of the exercises when you can stand on
your injured ankle without pain.
- Heel raises: Balance yourself while standing behind a
chair or counter. Raise your body up onto your toes and
hold it for 5 seconds, then slowly lower yourself down.
Repeat 10 times. Do 3 sets of 10.
- Step-up: Stand with the foot of your injured leg on
a support (like a block of wood) 3 to 5 inches high.
Keep your other foot flat on the floor. Shift your
weight onto the injured leg and straighten the knee as
the uninjured leg comes off the floor. Lower your
uninjured leg to the floor slowly. Do 3 sets of 10.
- Static and dynamic balance exercises
- Place a chair next to your non-injured leg and stand
upright. (This will provide you with balance if
needed.) Stand on your injured foot. Try to raise the
arch of your foot while keeping your toes on the
floor. Try to maintain this position and balance on
your injured side for 30 seconds. This exercise can
be made more difficult by doing it on a piece of foam
or a pillow, or with your eyes closed.
- Stand in the same position as above. Keep your foot
in this position and reach forward in front of you
with your injured side's hand, allowing your knee to
bend. Repeat this 10 times while maintaining the
arch height. This exercise can be made more difficult
by reaching farther in front of you. Do 2 sets.
- Stand in the same position as above. While
maintaining your arch height, reach the injured
side's hand across your body toward the chair. The
farther you reach, the more challenging the exercise.
Do 2 sets of 10.
- Jump rope: Jump rope landing on both legs for 5
minutes, then on only the injured leg for 5 minutes.
Written by Tammy White, M.S., P.T., for McKesson Health Solutions LLC.
This content is reviewed periodically and is subject to
change as new health information becomes available. The
information is intended to inform and educate and is not a
replacement for medical evaluation, advice, diagnosis or
treatment by a healthcare professional.
Copyright © 2003 McKesson Health Solutions LLC. All rights reserved.