You twisted your ankle. It is worse than usual and you wonder if it’s an ankle sprain or a strain. No matter, you know that wrapping it up, icing it, some Advil or Motrin and staying off it will do the trick. After all, isn’t that what people have done for, well, for always? Not necessarily. If you want to heal faster and make sure your ankle comes out stronger, try physical therapy.
Physical therapy can help
Whether it’s a sprain or strain, physical therapy can help. A sprain is a stretch or tear of a ligament. A minor sprain is just an overly stretched ligament, while a major sprain can mean a partial or complete tear of one or more ligaments. A strain is an injury to muscles or tendons either overstretching, or a partial or complete tear. Either injury needs attention and physical therapy can help. First thing is to go see your doctor to get a diagnosis.
Physical therapist can provide the healthy way to heal
A physical therapist will be able to come up with a program that can help the sprain or strain heal, improve range of motion and strengthen the ankle. Using both exercise, heat, cold, and other therapies, your ankle will be good as new. Most importantly, it will help you to keep from re-injuring the ankle. Through the strengthening of the ankle, advice on how to walk/run correctly to avoid what caused the sprain, and keep you from jumping back into activity too soon, your physical therapist will have you up and going again the HEALTHY way.
So don’t wait to see if the usual will do the trick. Why wait to see if that leaves you with a weaker ankle. Ask your doctor to see if physical therapy will be a better choice.
