How to Make the Most of Your Ankle Sprain Recovery

Ankle sprains are so common it’s tempting to neglect or ignore the value of recovery time. But if you skip rehabilitation, you’re at risk of recurrent ankle sprains and chronic instability.

At Michigan Avenue Primary Care, we offer walk-in care and same-day appointments for injuries like sprained ankles. After evaluating your ankle, we provide immediate treatment and guidelines for your full recovery.

Here, we explore why recovery is crucial and the steps you can take to make the most of your recovery time.

About sprained ankles

You can experience an ankle sprain when overstretching or tearing the ligaments. Ligaments support and stabilize the ankle joint. They hold the bones in place, absorb shock, and stop the ankle from twisting and collapsing.

Even a mild sprain can cause extreme pain, swelling, and bruising. Any sprain affects the joint’s stability. If you don’t give the ligament enough time to heal and strengthen during your recovery, it won’t return to its pre-injury strength and function.

Why recovery is essential

The challenge of recovering from an ankle sprain is that you’ll start feeling better long before the ligaments have enough time to heal. However, returning to activities that stress the ankle too early interferes with healing and weakens the ligament.

A weak ankle ligament can cause chronic joint instability, significantly increasing your risk of recurrent sprains. With each future sprain, the ligament keeps weakening.

Ultimately, ankle instability prevents the ligaments from supporting the joint. Then, future sprains can occur with minimal outside force.

Steps for a successful recovery

How long it will take for your sprain to heal depends on the extent of the injury. A pulled but intact ligament takes up to three weeks. Plan on 3-6 weeks for a partial tear and several months for a complete ligament rupture.

We’ll give you personalized self-care instructions and recommend a recovery plan. If you have a severe sprain, we may recommend physical therapy to guide your rehabilitation.

Here are three steps to a successful recovery:

1. Reduce pain and swelling

The first step is reducing the pain and swelling. Rest the ankle as much as possible for the first 24-48 hours. While resting, immerse your foot and ankle in cold water or apply an ice pack for 15-20 minutes three times daily.

Wearing a compression bandage and elevating your leg to your hip level also reduces swelling. In addition, avoid heat (hot showers or hot packs) for the first 24 hours because it promotes swelling.

2. Boost your nutrition

Your body needs extra energy (calories) and nutritional support to heal injuries. For example, your ligaments are made of collagen. Producing new collagen requires vitamin C, zinc, and protein.

These nutrients can quickly become depleted during healing. Without enough dietary protein, your body pulls amino acids from your muscles, leading to muscle loss.

Follow a well-balanced diet with special attention to the following nutrients to support healing:

• Protein (lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, beans, and nuts)
• Carbohydrates (whole grain cereals, breads and rice, beans, and fruits)
• Calcium (milk, cheese, yogurt, broccoli, and leafy greens)
• Iron (lean red meat, poultry, fish, leafy greens, and iron-fortified cereals)
• Zinc (meat, poultry, pumpkin seeds, cereals, crab and other seafood)
• Vitamin A (carrots, sweet potatoes, and dark yellow or green leafy vegetables)
• Vitamin C (citrus fruits, tomatoes, broccoli, and green and red peppers)
• Vitamin D (fortified milk and cereals, eggs, salmon, trout, and sardines)
• Vitamin K (green leafy vegetables, carrots, and cashews)
• Vitamin E (vegetable oils, sunflower seeds, almonds, hazelnuts, peanut butter, broccoli, and green leafy vegetables)

3. Follow your rehabilitation regimen

After your brief rest period, it’s time to gradually improve the ankle’s strength and movement. Whether we’re supervising your recovery or you go to a physical therapist, you’ll get instructions on how to perform each exercise.

You'll need to keep up with your daily exercises to make the most of your recovery and heal as rapidly as possible.

Recovery begins by improving range of motion with nonstressful movements. For example, you may lie down and flex your ankle during the first week.

Then we may add an elasticized band to add resistance while flexing and gradually advance to exercises that put your ankle through movements other than flexion. The exercises become more strenuous as the ligament heals to restore strength.

The goal is to reach a stage of healing when you can start training to return to athletic activities. For example, this stage may include isometric strengthening and proprioception exercises, followed by activities required for your sport.  

Get expert care for a sprained ankle

Call Michigan Avenue Primary Care today or book an immediate care appointment online to get expert treatment for a sprained ankle.