Four reasons to treat ankle sprains with physical therapy

While they often heal with time and proper treatment, a sprained ankle can be a particularly frustrating condition to deal with. Whether you’re an athlete, are physically active or have a job that keeps you on your feet for hours at a time, ankle pain and limited mobility can make it tough to perform normal daily activities. 

However, it’s absolutely crucial not to rush back into action or overdo it. Doing so can increase the risk of worsening your sprained ankle or reinjuring it when it’s almost healed. This is where physical therapy can help. Physical therapists have many helpful therapy methods at their disposal. There are also many other reasons to consider physical therapy-based treatment for your sprained ankle. 

Here are four reasons to seek physical therapy for a sprained ankle

Once you’re following a physical therapy-based treatment plan for a sprained ankle, it can help you find relief in the following ways: 

1. Increased ankle strength — Therapeutic exercises can help build up the supporting muscles around the ankle. This can lead to improved ankle stability.

2. Improved range of motion — Manual therapy and targeted stretches can help with ankle flexibility. These therapy methods can also mobilize injured soft tissue. 

3. Promotion of the natural healing process — Physical therapy can’t cure a sprained ankle. But it can help the body heal by stimulating blood flow and breaking up knots of tense muscle fiber. Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM) is one technique that your physical therapist can use to provide these benefits. 

4. Lower likelihood of reinjury — By teaching proper posture, body mechanics and warm-up techniques, your physical therapist can help you lessen the risk of reinjuring your ankle. 

To gain the full benefits of physical therapy, you should try to be as engaged and active with the treatment process as possible. Finding a physical therapist whom you can build a productive relationship with is also essential. 

Peak Performance offers sprained ankle treatment from compassionate experts

Ready to find sprained ankle treatment from a top-notch therapy team? Our physical therapists at Peak Performance are primed to help you find relief from sprained ankle symptoms. Our team offers free screenings that can reveal the severity of  your ankle sprain. In addition, we excel at constructing personalized physical therapy plans intended to reduce symptoms and prevent future sprains. 

Is your injury keeping you stuck at home? That doesn’t mean you can’t get therapy from us! We offer virtual therapy sessions that you can do from home. These sessions involve working with our specialists over a secure video connection. You can even begin your physical therapy if you haven’t yet gotten a doctor’s referral. 

Take the next step to start getting our help with your sprained ankle. Contact us today for more information about our helpful physical therapy techniques or to schedule an initial appointment.