Health and Fitness Information CenterAnkle SafetyAn Ounce of Prevention
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” There is some wisdom in this old saying. For example, one area of the body that is often neglected until something goes wrong is the ankle. We almost all walk and many people run or participate in other sports. |
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Stop and think for a moment about the actual load your ankles take. Your body weight rests on these two small points. When you move, you have to take into account the impact of your foot striking the ground as well as your body weight coming down on your ankle. For all the use it gets, the ankle joint is remarkably resilient. But the ankle’s ability to move in more than one plane (back, forth, and side to side) makes it prone to injury. The most common injuries to the ankle involve the foot either twisting to the inside (inversion) or twisting to the outside (eversion). The good news is that there are exercises you can do to help keep your ankles strong and able to withstand the odd twist or misstep. The bad news is that ankle exercises are not considered trendy or sexy. The fact is they’re downright boring, which is why even people who have been prescribed ankle exercises by their doctors or physical therapists often don’t do them. |
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A lot of people consider having tired ankles or an occasional pain in the ankles normal. Specifically exercising the ankles is not something we usually consider. When something does go wrong like an ankle twist or sprain, we often hobble around gamely and hope it never happens again. Unfortunately, many ankle injuries take a long time to heal and some require physical therapy or surgery.