SKATE TIP OF THE WEEK
Inline secrets from the world's top skaters and coaches

This week's tip:

Preventing Ankle Sprains

How to prevent recurrent ankle sprains — or better yet, avoid sprains altogether

By Nadine Currie Jackson
 

Here's the bad news: Once you've sprained your ankle, you're likely to do it again.

Here's the good news: You can reduce your risk of reinjury by doing some simple exercises.

What is a sprain?

Sprains are injuries to the ligaments of our joints. These injuries happen when we strain, stretch, tear or otherwise damage the ligaments.

Skaters, especially those who wear low-cut boots with little ankle support, are prone to ankle sprains when they fall. Falls often twist feet into unnatural positions, which stress the ankle ligaments.

The problem with ligaments

Straining ligaments wouldn't be so bad if they were made like muscles. Muscles have incredible regenerative powers.

But ligaments lack the "contractile properties" of muscles. As a result, they don't necessarily return back to their original shape after being injured.

They may heal eventually, but not always. Sometimes surgery is necessary to repair them.

The Cure

Fortunately, ligaments are not the only things providing structure for our joints. The muscles around them also play a role and can pick up the slack for damanged ligaments. The trick is to make sure these supporting muscles are strong.

If you sprain your ankle, the first thing to do is give it some rest. (And don't forget to ice.) Stay off your feet as much as possible for a few days. And then go easy for a couple weeks to give your soft tissue time to heal.

Then it's time to start strenghtening the muscles around your ankle. Doing this will provide your joint with extra support. The exercises you should do are demonstrated in the first video below.

Wobbles

After a sprain, ankles can get a little sloppy. That makes our steps less precise than they should be when walking or skating. And this can lead to painful missteps and injuries.

The solution is to do some proprioception exercises. These exercises fine tune our muscular control by forcing us to work on unstable surfaces. Proprioception exercises for the ankle are demonstrated in the second video.

Do the exercises!

Remember, they aren't just for people who are recovering from spained ankles. They're also for those who want to avoid sprains in the first place.

Strengthening exercises

Proprioception exercises

March 19, 2010

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Nadine Currie Jackson is a skater, clinical massage therapist, researcher and educator at the college and university level. She is a former short-track speed skater and now describes herself these days as "hopelessly obsessed" with inline speed skating. A resident of Fredericton, New Brunswick, she finished second in the open pro division of the 2010 National Roller Cup. She is a member of the k2/Asphalt Beach racing team.

Related reading:

• Skate Tip of the Week Archive
• Beginners Guide to Outdoor Racing
• Beginners Guide to Inline Skating