Ankle sprains are the most common injury in the world of sports. We all know someone that has experienced an ankle sprain. The common advice – “you’ll be right, it’s just an ankle sprain”.
The primary reason we can’t call it “just an ankle sprain” is due to the incredibly high recurrence of them. After your first ankle sprain, 40% of people go on to develop chronic ankle instability (CAI) – a condition that results in more time away from sport and impairs performance significantly.
Upon testing we often see severe reductions in balance, proprioception and often reliance on vision and attention to compensate for an impaired ankle. This is why resting until it “feels better” does not cut it.
Early rehab focusing on strength, balance, and movement retraining is key. The goal isn’t just to get rid of pain – it’s to rebuild confidence and control in the ankle so it can handle the unpredictable nature of sport.
So, next time you or someone you know rolls an ankle, don’t brush it off. Treat it with the same intent you’d give any other injury. Because if you don’t rehab it right the first time, you’ll likely be dealing with it again… and again.
At Goulburn Valley Physiotherapy Centre, ankle sprain management is one of our bread-and-butter conditions. All our physiotherapists are experienced in assessing and treating ankle injuries. Using our AxIT system, we objectively measure strength, hopping ability, and compensations to identify every contributing factor.
Our goal is simple – to get you back to your sport stronger, more stable, and with a reduced risk of re-injury.
Written by
Pratik Sharma
Pratik graduated from La Trobe University in 2023 with a Masters of Physiotherapy Practice.