How can I strengthen my ankles?

Q. What are the ways to strengthen my ankles?

Answered by
Jay Indravadan Patel
and medically reviewed by Dr. Divya Banu M
This is a premium question & answer published on Mar 07, 2023

Hello doctor,

I am 18 and play hockey 3 to 4 times a week. Three years ago, I sprained my right ankle (inversion), by jumping over a fence and landing on the outside of my ankle. I had never sprained my ankle before, so I did not understand the appropriate treatment and recovery. So, three days later, when I could put weight on my ankle I started playing football again. I sprained my ankle again. This process happened for six months, I would think I had a full recovery, but then I would roll my ankle again. The next year I sprained my left ankle, but I knew the recovery process so it recovered much better than the right one. Although I have not rolled my ankle this year, both ankles feel very weak and I feel it could roll anytime. I change direction during hockey or just simple jogging. Could you please tell me how to strengthen my ankles, so they become normal again?

#

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Giving a brief into the ligament injury which happens in the ankle. Usually, ankle injuries are ignored. Also, no proper rehabilitation is done for the same. So ankle becomes prone to injuries again and again. Let me put in this way. Ligaments do not heal as a soft tissue again but a fibrosed one which is more rigid than the original ones.

Coming to your concern about the ankle joint stability. I will recommend you to follow the exercise because the ankle is the joint which had to bear the whole body weight. Using the Rocker bottom board initially for correction of the muscle imbalances is the first step to regain stability. This is level one of the training which I follow in my clinics for sports injuries. The next level goes to the wobble board training which is the second level of training and this gives the utmost outcome scores with great stability of the ankle joint and correction of muscle imbalances.

You should focus on using this board and do strengthening of the upper limbs and lower limbs along with the core. It is completely a sports rehabilitation program as you are an athlete, so having an injury for you again is not affordable either to you or the game.


The Probable causes:

Sports injury.

Investigations to be done:

MRI ankles.

Probable diagnosis:

Ankle sprain.

Treatment plan:

Sports rehabilitation.


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