Weak ankles - whats the solution?

Discussion in 'General Forum' started by wedgewenis, Mar 12, 2006.

  1. wedgewenis

    wedgewenis Regular Member

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    my friend rolls his ankle very badly and quite often ... we actually trained for several months with no serious problems but recently He rolled it completely over again and wont' be able to play for atleast a week ......

    when He rolls it bad he cannot play for up to two weeks untill it heals

    other times it will only be slight roll but still would stop him from playing for a few days


    how can he overcome this so that he is not so prone to this occurance?
     
  2. Loopy

    Loopy Regular Member

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    Better footwork.
    Give the ankle's ligaments more time to heal and fully recover. There's a difference between healing when the ligaments are still frail, and let them get to full strength back.
    Some physiotherapy abduction adduction exercices would help.
     
  3. checkthemc

    checkthemc Regular Member

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    just buy an ankle brace
     
  4. cappy75

    cappy75 Regular Member

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    Is he wearing the right type of shoes? Also, he might wanna get into rope-skipping and other exercises targeting the lower leg muscle areas once he recovered. Fatigue makes one sloppy in everything, bad inherent footwork relapses when the player started out w/o learning the proper way to move about in the court.
     
  5. chessymonkey

    chessymonkey Regular Member

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    If he really roll it bad before then even after it seems to heals the join will
    be weaker then what it originally is for longer then u might think and more likley to have the same type of injury again.
    Its better he go pick up a ankle brace to better protect his joins so it
    has time to truely recover.
     
  6. Eurasian =--(O)

    Eurasian =--(O) Regular Member

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    i've rolled/sprained my ankle many, many times. by far the best way to strengthen the ankle is to do balance excercises, preferably on balance boards. I use a half sphere balance ball. The point of theses excercises is to get the out parts of the calv firing. The calv should bulge on the outside edges. Do one leg for as long as you can than swith back and forth until your quite fatigued. Problem with these excercises is that at first your ankles will be quite susceptible to rolling after doing them b/c of muscle fatigue. Best to do it when you don't have training the next day.

    I used to have to wear ankle braces until I started doing this.
     
  7. cappy75

    cappy75 Regular Member

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    Not quite... a knee brace is a crutch where it helps support your injured area, unfortunately the brace will weaken the area over time. Best to wear for a few days, then discard it and work on strengthening muscles surrounding the area instead. Scar tissues formed in an injury will limit flexibility so wearing a brace will actually increase your likelihood of re-injury.
    Eurasian's suggested exercises will help and are common in sports physio rehabilitation.
     
    #7 cappy75, Mar 13, 2006
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2006
  8. LongReach

    LongReach Regular Member

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    Absolutely right!:) Braces cause more harm than good.

    Which ankle is he rolling......Racket leg or non-racket leg? both?

    Does he roll his ankle: while lunging, while moving back, scissor kicking?

    I ask this because if I can find out when he is most likely to roll his ankle maybe I can make a suggestion to fix it.

    Eg: My racket foot ankle was very 'prone to rolling' during a hard lunge to the net.......under this circumstance of having to rush I did not 'point' my toes forward towards the shuttle and had it on a angle.......when this was pointed out to me by a coach with a good eye.........I keep a concious note to point it out straight during a lunge and have not had any trouble since.
     
  9. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    Those suggestions may ameliorate the condition; but there may be an underlying cause that we are not aware of.

    For example, he may have biomechanical problems -- over-pronation/supination of the ankle, splayed feet, collapsed arches, shortened hamstrings.....

    Or his footwork may be unsafe. Check that his foot always points in the direction of a lunge (I sprained my ankle on a sideways lunge).

    The only way to discover the underlying causes (if there are any) is to consult doctors, physiotherapists, and other relevant professionals (such as a coach, to check his footwork is safe, or an orthotist to check foot biomechanics). Talking on a forum will be of limited benefit.
     
  10. cappy75

    cappy75 Regular Member

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    Absolutely right. No matter how strong you are, bad footwork will ruin your legs anyway. Best to cover all bases and seek professional help.

     
  11. LongReach

    LongReach Regular Member

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    Yes agree with what cappy and gollum have said.


    The thing i want to know is "under what circumstances does he roll his ankle?"
    For the sake that this maybe remedied by looking at the situations when this rolling his ankle occurs and adjusting possible bad form.
    If his form is good and the injuries are not due to bad form and these injuries persist....than that is something a qualified person should look at.

    I am more curious to find out if this injury is caused or aggravated by a certain movement.

    Also I feel two weeks is not enough to recover from such injury and this repititious injury will simply get worse as the ankle can heal weaker.
     
    #11 LongReach, Mar 13, 2006
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2006
  12. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    Repetitive ankle sprains indicate reduced function in the ankle ligaments. Each time the ankle is injured there will be some stretching and possibly tearing of the ligaments that will result in reduced proprioception in the ankle, and therefore an ever-increasing tendency to future injuries in that area.

    Which means: the longer he ignores the problem, the worse it will get.

    Physiotherapy can restore lost proprioception to some extent, but the task will be much harder after successive sprains.

    Rest and gentle non-competitive exercise, such as walking, are the immediate treatment to prevent further damage. Gentle exercise should be started as soon as it is safe, and ankle supports should only be worn while the joint is unstable and at risk of another sprain.

    During a rehabilitation period, you can expect some discomfort and dull pain when walking. If the pain consistently worsens or becomes severe, then total rest is necessary.
     
    #12 Gollum, Mar 13, 2006
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2006
  13. chessymonkey

    chessymonkey Regular Member

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    Many ppl agree on knee brace does more harm then good cos
    it actually push and pressure the joins together making things worst
    However the guy said he rolled his ankle... and ankle brace r to protect
    sideway rolling rite? does that diff from Knee brace or is it all the same story?
    Cos myself had this experience of repeatively rolling the ankel cos the join is just weaken after an injury, and injury strikes again before the join is back in shape. I found i did benifit from a shorter recovery period wearing the ankle brace for a couple days as it keeps my feet from rolling again till it regain its strength. Or would you recomend just do away the ankel brace all together..
    I'm not suggesting ankle brace as a long term measurement, but when i do roll my ankel, I tend to reach for it as i believe that it gives me the protection i am looking for.
    Now if you tell me ankel brace is just as bad as knee brace.. then i would have to make some adjustment to my habbit..
     
  14. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    All these joint braces have the same benefit and disadvantage.

    • Benefit: protects the joint while it is unstable.
    • Disadvantage: retards the recovery process.

    You should wear a support only while it is necessary to protect the joint. If you become reliant on the support then your injury will not heal properly.

    Avoid using supports to bypass a thorough recovery programme. It's a bad, short-sighted fix.

    When I sprained my ankle, I rested from badminton for a period. I then returned to sport, playing badminton slowly and carefully and with an ankle support.

    Once I was confident that my ankle was stable, I removed the support. I continued to play badminton, gradually increasing the speed of my movements until they were eventually back to 100%.

    Considering the severity of the sprain, I have excellent ankle function now. I believe this is because I rested when necessry, wore a support when necessary, but also returned to activity and removed the support as soon as I safely could.
     
    #14 Gollum, Mar 13, 2006
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2006
  15. wedgewenis

    wedgewenis Regular Member

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    He only rolls his ankles when Moving Laterally or Backwards (especially round the head)

    he doesnt' roll them when lunging to the net .... I've never seen it.
     
  16. Gollum

    Gollum Regular Member

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    If his sideways lunges do not have the foot in line with the knee (i.e. pointing sideways, not forwards), then this could cause ankle rolling.

    As for rolling the ankle when moving backwards -- this suggests ankle instability. I used to get this while my ankle was still recovering.

    Note that a roll is not the same as a sprain, but it is a warning sign that you might get a sprain next time.
     
  17. slocke8

    slocke8 New Member

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    I have had many ankle injuries. Firstly you need to let it recover, playing within 1-2 weeks sounds far to soon.

    Best thing I did to improve ankle strength was taking up marial arts (TKD). All the balancing on 1 leg etc has really strenghtened my lower legs and ligaments round the ankles and I havent had an ankle related injury for about 3 years.
     

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