Ankle Sprains - How to Treat Them and Get Back to Running

Ankle sprains vary from mild to severe and are usually caused by a misstep – falling off a curb, over a rock, or into a hole. With sprains, the ankle rolls over to one side tugging, or in some cases, actually tearing the ligament.

In many cases the initial pain will go away rather quickly and settle into a general soreness in the area. In the most severe cases, you may experience swelling and tenderness around the injured site.

Healing time from ankle sprains usually ranges from a few days to 2-3 weeks. The important thing here is to give the injury enough time to heal before once again hitting the road, and while you don’t have to be completely pain free to resume your training, if you are limping, or running makes the pain worse you have got to lay off training for a while to allow the injury to fully heal. There are no shortcuts.

So, how do you properly treat an ankle sprain?

1. First, if you have severe pain or selling, you’ve got to see a doctor to ensure that you haven’t sustained a more severe injury (like a broken bone).

2. Remember PRICE –
• Protection
• Rest
• Ice
• Compression
• Elevation

3. Take an anti-inflammatory for a few days - like plain aspirin ibuprofen if you can.

4. Use ankle tape, but only during the initial phase of the injury. Do not run while taped. Here is the way you should tape your ankle, or you can watch a video demonstrating the proper technique.

5. Once the pain has subsided, strengthen your ankle by doing resistance training with a resistance tube or use a wobble board.

With the resistance tube, loop one end around something sturdy – like the couch leg, and loop the other end around your foot. With you leg straight out and facing the point of resistance, flex your foot back towards your body, then to the right and then to the left. Do this exercise twice a day for a couple of weeks.

A wobble board is a good training tool in general, but its especially good for healing ankle and foot injuries because it develops the small muscles in the foot. The idea is to stand on the board and maintain balance without letting the board tip to one side. If you are prone to this type of injury a wobble board is probably a good investment and will help strengthen your ankles and feet (and may help prevent a repeat injury of this kind).

6. Avoid wearing high-heeled shoes, which tend to put more pressure on the ankle and foot…at least for several days.

7. As you return to running, pay attention to the injured site and don’t ignore how it feels. Most of us want to aspirin-up and get out the door and an interruption in training is annoying at best. However, if you take this injury seriously and give yourself enough time to heal, you’ll be back on the road in no time – without lingering pain. If your pain is decreasing with each passing day, you’re on the road to recovery. If not, you need to lay off and give yourself more time to heal…seriously.

- From the Runner’s World Guide to Injury Prevention by Dagny Scott Barrios
 

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