How to Rehab a Sprained Ankle

Everyone always hears the same old advice whenmuscles around the ankle joint. Since they have been
they sprain an ankle. Ice it and rest. This is known asdamaged, they need to be stretched and strengthened
the R.I.C.E. system which stands for Rest, Ice,in order to heal properly. Further, by stretching and
Compression, and Elevation. While this is an okaystrengthening the ankle, we keep the blood moving in
approach in the immediate short term, there a re a lotand out of that area which helps the ankle heal
of significant shortcomings to this system of rehab.significantly faster.
They include:3) After an ankle injury, there is a neural impairment. In
Drawbacks of R.I.C.E.other words, the communication between the nervous
* Usually takes at least 2-8 weeks to heal.system and the ankle joint will be decreased. If this isn't
* Does not increase range of motion.addressed, healing will naturally take much longer. Also,
* Does not repair neural damage.after you think your ankle is better, the neural
* Does not strengthen ankle.impairment will continue, putting you at risk for injury in
* Increases risk of ankle injury in the future.the future.
* Increases risk of knee (A.C.L. - Anterior CruciateMy system works to reduce swelling, bruising and pain
Ligament) and hip injuries.while at the same time strengthening the muscles
I have sprained my own ankle a number of times inaround the ankle joint and increasing flexibility. These
the past, because I play a lot of basketball. I haveare not contradictory things. You may think you just
personally been throuugh all the frustration and painneed rest and ice, but that will insure your recovery
that is involved with this kind of injury. Eventually, Iprocess is slow and incomplete. The ligaments need to
wondered if there was a better way to rehab myselfbe stretched and worked in such a way that the body
then the old version of R.I.C.E. Since I am a certifiedwill trigger the healing process. In other words, the
trainer from one of the most prestigious fitnessmore flexible and strong your ankle becomes, the
programs in the United States, (N.A.S.M. Nationalquicker your body will work through the healing
Academy of Sports Medicine), I already knew thatprocess. But, you have to be very careful to not
there had to be a better way. I just had to discover it.over-work the muscles by doing exercises that may
I did a great deal of research and learned that there isoverwork the muscles and possible cause more
indeed a much more effective way to treat a spraineddamage.
ankle. One of the biggest drawbacks of R.I.C.E. is thatBut, the best part about my program is that it's not just
it tells you to just rest and ice. But, you actually need toabout speed. One of the unique things about my
get moving just as quickly as possible. Besides, ice issystem is that it also repairs the neuromuscular
only effective for a short while and that only containsdamage from the injury. When you do damage to
the swelling, it doesn't decrease it. So, I set aboutligaments as in an ankle sprain, the nervous system
developing a program that anyone could use to heal aand muscles in the ankle joint to communicate as well
sprained ankle in a matter of days instead of weeks.anymore. If that's not addressed, then you will always
When you sprain an ankle, a lot of things happen.have weaker, less flexible ankles that are at risk for
Beyond the obvious swelling, stiffness, and bruising,future injury. In order to properly heal the ankle joint, we
there are three main issues that must be addressed tomust first correct the impaired neural communication
heal the ankle quickly and correctly:between the muscles and nervous system. This is
1) The body tends to heal very slowly. Left to itself, ancompletely addressed in my system with a few
ankle injury usually takes about 2-8 weeks to heal,surprisingly simple and easy to do exercises.
depending on the severity of the injury. But, when youHere are the main benefits of the system:
actively rehabilitate it with specific exercises that* Pain free walking in days.
strengthen it and increase range of motion, the ankle* Back to sports in about a week.
responds very quickly and swelling goes down rapidly.* Significantly increases strength and flexibility.
My clients recover from a sprained ankle in days not* Heals neuromuscular damage from the injury.
weeks. They are usually walking normally within 3-5* Dramatically reduces your risk of future injury.
days after an ankle sprain injury.* Helps correct posture and muscle imbalances.
2) The ankle joint is weakened by the injury. If it is not* May help dramatically reduce knee, hip, back pain.
properly rehabilitated, it will remain weak and will be* Anyone can do it.
very slow to heal. It will also be at uch greater risk of* It's simple and only takes minutes a day.
re-injury. You have to strengthen the ligaments and* Filled with high quality images to insure ease of use.