Ankle Stretching
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century264
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Ankle Stretching
Now there may already be a thread devoted to this, but I have heard that there are ankle stretches that both keep your ankles healthier and help your crank out a good amount. I've heard Jorden talk about them a few times. I have recently found how helpful stretching can be in keeping away shin splints and I want to keep my ankles healthy and cranky so I can keep playing, especially since I have potential problems with my ankles to begin with.
Ian Pfeiffer
Trampoline owner
Trampoline owner
I saw this in the the NYTimes health blog today. It's by a doctor from Cornell University.
Q. What steps do you recommend for healing an ankle sprain?
A. Most ankle sprains result from forced and excessive inversion, an inward rolling of the ankles. These sprains frequently occur when stepping on another player’s foot or when a runner steps into a rut. The ligaments on the outside portion of the ankle, and the muscles on the lateral portion of the leg that are responsible for limiting ankle inversion, are typically injured. The high incidence of recurrent sprains that we see is primarily due to the failure to successfully complete an adequate three-phase treatment program.
Phase 1: Immediate early treatment goals are minimizing soft tissue swelling and regaining range of motion. This is done by applying a compression bandage around the ankle and foot. Elevate the ankle higher than the heart. Apply an ice pack for 20 minutes to control internal bleeding and fluid accumulation. Apply ice every two hours while awake for the next 48 hours. When the foot is elevated, perform range-of-motion exercises by keeping your heel still and tracing the alphabet in capital letters with your big toe.
Phase 2: After 48 hours, the goals are to eliminate all swelling and pain, regain full range of motion and restrengthen the muscles that stabilize the ankle. Remove the compression wrap and immerse your ankle comfortably in a container of hot water (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Perform the air alphabet. Next, place your foot into a container filled with crushed ice and cold water. While keeping the heel of the injured foot on the bottom of the container, lift and rotate the foot up and out until it makes contact with the side of the container. Hold that position for eight seconds, relax for two seconds, and repeat.
Start the hot-water exercises and perform them in descending periods of five, four, three, two and one minute. Alternate each of them with one-minute intervals of cold bath exercises. Continue using the compression wrap until the ankle has no swelling and is pain free.
Phase 3: The goal is to restore range of motion and regain strength to the muscles stabilizing the ankle. You want to be able to stand and balance on the injured foot for 20 seconds without wobbling. Heel raises are excellent. Stand on the injured foot and slowly raise your heel off the ground, then slowly lower it. Repeat 10 times for three sets. Once you can stand and balance on the ball of the injured foot for 20 seconds and have regained full range of motion, begin a jogging program on a flat, smooth surface for up to 20 minutes. When finished, ice the ankle for 20 minutes. When you are able to run on a field or court in a large figure eight pattern at quarter speed, advance to half speed and then full speed. At that point, you can return to full activities.
Q. What if an ankle is still sore in the weeks after the original injury?
A. Our message for the weekend warrior is not to try to run through the pain of an ankle sprain. If you still have chronic pain after three months of your sprain and physical therapy, you may have a chronic tear of the ankle ligaments or an osteochondral defect, or crack in the cartilage or bone that may lead to a cyst on the ankle. This will be uncovered easily with an M.R.I., not typically an X-ray. Once a lesion is there, surgery is necessary. If it’s a small lesion, then microdrilling or micropicking of the surface of the bone helps stimulate the formation of fibrocartilage to replace the lost cartilage.
If the lesion is large, it has to be replaced with something akin to the cartilage that was there. We replace “like with likeâ€
Q. What steps do you recommend for healing an ankle sprain?
A. Most ankle sprains result from forced and excessive inversion, an inward rolling of the ankles. These sprains frequently occur when stepping on another player’s foot or when a runner steps into a rut. The ligaments on the outside portion of the ankle, and the muscles on the lateral portion of the leg that are responsible for limiting ankle inversion, are typically injured. The high incidence of recurrent sprains that we see is primarily due to the failure to successfully complete an adequate three-phase treatment program.
Phase 1: Immediate early treatment goals are minimizing soft tissue swelling and regaining range of motion. This is done by applying a compression bandage around the ankle and foot. Elevate the ankle higher than the heart. Apply an ice pack for 20 minutes to control internal bleeding and fluid accumulation. Apply ice every two hours while awake for the next 48 hours. When the foot is elevated, perform range-of-motion exercises by keeping your heel still and tracing the alphabet in capital letters with your big toe.
Phase 2: After 48 hours, the goals are to eliminate all swelling and pain, regain full range of motion and restrengthen the muscles that stabilize the ankle. Remove the compression wrap and immerse your ankle comfortably in a container of hot water (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Perform the air alphabet. Next, place your foot into a container filled with crushed ice and cold water. While keeping the heel of the injured foot on the bottom of the container, lift and rotate the foot up and out until it makes contact with the side of the container. Hold that position for eight seconds, relax for two seconds, and repeat.
Start the hot-water exercises and perform them in descending periods of five, four, three, two and one minute. Alternate each of them with one-minute intervals of cold bath exercises. Continue using the compression wrap until the ankle has no swelling and is pain free.
Phase 3: The goal is to restore range of motion and regain strength to the muscles stabilizing the ankle. You want to be able to stand and balance on the injured foot for 20 seconds without wobbling. Heel raises are excellent. Stand on the injured foot and slowly raise your heel off the ground, then slowly lower it. Repeat 10 times for three sets. Once you can stand and balance on the ball of the injured foot for 20 seconds and have regained full range of motion, begin a jogging program on a flat, smooth surface for up to 20 minutes. When finished, ice the ankle for 20 minutes. When you are able to run on a field or court in a large figure eight pattern at quarter speed, advance to half speed and then full speed. At that point, you can return to full activities.
Q. What if an ankle is still sore in the weeks after the original injury?
A. Our message for the weekend warrior is not to try to run through the pain of an ankle sprain. If you still have chronic pain after three months of your sprain and physical therapy, you may have a chronic tear of the ankle ligaments or an osteochondral defect, or crack in the cartilage or bone that may lead to a cyst on the ankle. This will be uncovered easily with an M.R.I., not typically an X-ray. Once a lesion is there, surgery is necessary. If it’s a small lesion, then microdrilling or micropicking of the surface of the bone helps stimulate the formation of fibrocartilage to replace the lost cartilage.
If the lesion is large, it has to be replaced with something akin to the cartilage that was there. We replace “like with likeâ€