Expert: Brad Walker (The Stretch Coach) - 6/12/2009

Question
Back in November i sprained my ankle severely whilst playing basketball. I
was on crutches for 7 weeks and once able to walk i did my best to come
back into competitive sport slowly. Once i did come back i wore a pretty
heavy duty ankle support.
The season is now over and i want to make sure everything is dandy before
the next season rolls around in Sep/Oct. I still have some swelling (or at least
odd puffy bits) in my ankle and my range of motion is somewhat limited.
Is there anything I can do to regain a full range of motion and will the final
bits of swelling ever completely disappear?

Thanks
Merlin

Answer
Hi Merlin

Thanks for your inquiry. It's a pleasure to help and I hope the following is beneficial.

You've done the right things so far, but it's time to move onto some more aggressive rehab techniques.

Start with heat, massage and very gentle stretching. The second half of this article...
http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/archives/scar-tissue.php

...plus all of this article will give you more details about how to conduct the rehab.
http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/archives/active-rehabilitation.php

There's also a specific 3 part article on ankle sprain here...
http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/archives/ankle-injuries-pt1.php


And if you are going to keep exercising, make sure you strap your ankle...
http://www.sportstek.net/ankle_taping.htm

...or there are plenty of videos on YouTube that will show you how to strap an ankle.


I hope the above has been helpful. For more information on how to stretch properly and the best stretching exercises for you, visit http://www.TheStretchingInstitute.com


Brad Walker
Founder & CEO
The Stretching Institute