The most common causes of ankle sprain include a previous history of sprains, inadequate
shoes, lack of conditioning and lack of warming up. But preventing ankle sprains
is a bit more complicated. While you can't guarantee that you'll never
sprain your ankle, here are some things you can do to make your angle stronger and
reduce your chances of injury.
Warm up exercises
Adding warm up exercises to your daily routine helps your body get ready for activities.
Not only will a good warm up get your muscles and joints ready, but it also helps
your heart and lungs prepare for the exertion.
Balancing Exercises
Anything you can do to help your body balance will help prevent injuries in your
ankles and other joints. By challenging your balancing abilities, you strengthen
your proprioception, which is the ability of your body to be aware of where your
limbs are at all times. In regards to ankles, your legs have less of a chance of
stepping down wrong or making another mistake that could injure you.
Plyometric Exercises
These types of exercises including skipping, jumping, hopping and other activities
that involve bouncing off the ground. This is a great way to condition and strengthen
the muscles as well as the ligaments and tendons in your ankle joint so they are
prepared for strenuous activities.
Choose Ideal Footwear
Try out different types of shoes until your feet feel like they are supported and
comfortable. The right pair of shoes stabilizes your ankles while also providing
comfort to your feet. They should also support your lower leg while you're
walking, jogging or running.
Strapping
If you have a weak ankle or one that has recently been injured, wrapping it in tape
can give it some extra support and stability. If done correctly, this method can
even provide support to injured ankles so you can still walk on it.
As with all muscle joints and ligaments, a few preventative tactics can prevent
injury or lessen the impact that an injury could have on your body. With the complexity
of the ankle joint, keeping it supported and flexible helps reduce the risk of a
serious injury. A few preventative actions can keep you from getting a serious injury
that could have a lasting impact on your body for months or even years.