The ankle bears the weight of our body making it highly prone to injuries. Indeed, one of the most common injuries to the human body is an ankle injury, which can typically be sprains or strains, inflammation of the Achilles tendon or Achilles tendonitis and fractures.
There are many possible reasons for any of these problems from wearing improper or inappropriate footwear to overuse of the muscles in your ankle and trauma caused by accidents. An ankle injury can happen to you whether you are an athlete, a salesperson required to stand for long hours in your job, or if you simply tripped while walking.
Ankle physical therapy helps manage pain, reduce inflammation, improve flexibility, and strengthen the muscles in your ankle. Ankle physical therapy begins with a thorough evaluation of your ankle injury. Your physical therapist will also review your medical history to find out if you have related problems such as arthritis or diabetes. To help diagnose your exact injury, your physical therapist will examine your gait by asking you to walk or run.
Your physical therapist will also check the range of movement and strength of your ankle as well as the blood circulation and sensation in the injured area. Before proceeding with ankle physical therapy, your therapist will also have to look for possible misalignments and ligament injuries.
An effective ankle physical therapy incorporates several exercises that usually start with improving the range of your ankle’s movements and then gradually moving into strengthening exercises with the use of weights and then finally performing exercises to improve your balance.
In addition to exercise programs, ankle physical therapy may also include massage and other techniques such as electrical stimulation, ankle joint mobilization, pulsed ultrasound therapy and fluid therapy, which both make use of heat to promote healing.
Your physical therapist will design an ankle physical therapy program tailored to your needs. Your doctor may also provide you with orthotics or an appliance to help in rehabilitating your ankles such as braces or shoe inserts. You will most likely have to give up or at least put on hold some of your activities whether it is work or playing a sport.
Your doctor will provide you with an exercise program that you can do at home even after you have completed your ankle physical therapy sessions. Your doctor will also educate you on how to prevent future injuries, which in ankle physical therapy is equally important to a quick recovery.
