Ankle sprains are some of the most common musculoskeletal injuries, with approximately 25,000 people spraining their ankle every day (1). An ankle sprain occurs usually when the ankle is forced into an extremely inverted or everted position, meaning rolling in or out respectively; rolling your ankle inwards being the most common type of sprain.
How do I know if I sprained my ankle?
Some common symptoms of an ankle sprain are:
- Pain or soreness when moving your ankle into the position in which you sprained it,
- Pain with walking
- Ankle stiffness
- Mild localized swelling and bruising along the outside of your foot/ankle.
The sprain may be more serious and require a visit to the ER if the bruising and swelling is more severe and if you aren’t able to walk. 
Why do sprains happen?
Ankle sprains can occur for a few main reasons:
- Freak accident– Many ankle sprains or ankle injuries happen from tripping or falling, missing a curb or slipping on ice. These are relatively unavoidable in many cases.
- Ankle/foot weakness– If we are relatively sedentary most of the day it is difficult to keep the foot and ankle muscles in good shape. So when we run or do something that is more high impact when the muscles around the ankle are not strong that increases our risk.
- Hip or core weakness– Similar to the example above, if our hip and core muscles are not strong enough then our ankle muscles can be “left on their own” to prevent injuries.
- Congenital ankle or hip abnormalities– Some of us are born with ankles and feet that predispose us to ankle sprains. If we do not realize that we have these problems, then we will likely struggle with chronic ankle sprains. The same goes for our hips. Sometimes, people have conditions in which their femur is positioned in a way that can put them at risk of ankle or knee injuries.
Should I go to PT if I think I had a sprain?
Going to PT after an ankle sprain is usually a good idea. Physical therapists can perform an evaluation to ensure that nothing more serious is going on, and give you directions on what to do while it is healing and how to improve any lingering pain after spraining weeks prior.
Even if you are not having much pain, an evaluation to make sure you are performing appropriate exercises and stretches in order to come back from the injury stronger is still helpful. Poor healing from a sprain leaves you at risk for another sprain.
It is especially important to give PT a try if you have sprained the same ankle multiple times. You might have a congenital ankle or hip problem that we can help with and if not, chronic sprains are not a good sign. If you have had difficulty coming back from one sprain, it is only going to get harder to come back from subsequent sprains without some guidance from a physical therapist. Especially if you need to get back to a sport or need to have good balance (which is everyone!!).
By Leigh Taylor, DPT
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