I sprained my ankle!

[Karategurl]

I sprained my ankle awhile back... like 8 weeks ago...However it still hurts. I tried sparring the other nite at my dojo and it hurt a little to stand or keep my balance on it. I still cant move it like i used to be able to... its not so flexable. If anyone has any suggestions on how i can fix my ankle or help the healing process to go faster would be helpful!! Thanks!

[Shorin Ryuu]

After it heals up a bit, I found that wearing ankle weights really strengthens the ankles. Depending on your various commitments to social life and whatnot or what you wear (I could get away with wearing pants all the time), you can wear them throughout the whole day.

 

I wore them for about 8 months during a period in high school the whole day. They were five pounds on each leg and I would only take them off to sleep, shower and work out. Notice I said I never wore them while working out. If you try to do anything dynamic with them, you run a huge risk of injury to joints and bone. However, just walking around with them (and I would walk around a lot) will strengthen a lot of the muscle and connective tissue. My ankles almost doubled in size during that period (I did start off a little skinny though, but still, a huge improvement). Since then, I've never had ankle problems (been about 5 years or so). I've even done things that would have really hurt them since then, like roll them terribly and the like, but the connective tissue is so much stronger that it doesn't sprain that easily anymore.

 

As far as the healing process itself, you simply have to reduce the stress on it, since you are basically shifting your weight on it every time you stand or do anything other than sit or lay down. People don't like to hear this, but you have to not do those things that stress it until it heals, and it sounds like you are still doing them. There are so many athletes that often ignore a sprain and continue playing past the pain, and make things much worse than they really have to be by being active with the injury.

 

If anything, see an orthopedist, since they can help, or a physical therapy trainer if you know one or want to pay for a session. They can give you more specifics, but stretch it out (you have to figure out the balance between pain, stiffness, and further injury) and do light mobility on it without any weight.

[White Warlock]

injuries to joints are usually in the form of ligament or tendon injuries, which are exceedingly slow to heal, due to lower amounts of blood vessels to support said areas. Mostly, it just requires patience. Shorin's advice on ankle weights is good (especially the part about not using them for exercise or similar), but you do risk the chance of further aggravating your injury if applied too early, if overused, or if worn too tightly (thus interfering with the already reduced blood flow to said areas).

 

Daily applying liniments can help encourage blood flow in various ways (dilation of blood vessels, anti-inflammation of surrounding tissues, etc). I prefer aloe vera, but others may recommend dit dai jow or menthol liniments.