If you have experienced a sprained ankle, you’ll need to give it time to heal.

Although, it’s also important to strengthen the muscles around the around it to allow it to recover properly and prevent further sprains.

Once you have gone through a short rest period it’s thought that you may be able to start exercising a mild sprained ankle after a few days. This will obviously depend on how bad your sprain is – at this stage it’s important to listen to your body.

Once you have taken some time out to rest, it’s thought that you can start doing light to moderate exercise, which is why we’ve come up with X exercises that will allow you to try and treat your sprained ankle yourself at home.

What is a sprained ankle?

There are three ligaments which keep your ankle bone in place – a sprained ankle occurs when one of those ligaments stretches too far is or is torn completely.

Wondering if you have a sprain or a strain? Read our article to find out the difference.

Medically, your sprained ankle will be graded on how bad it is, they include:

• Grade 1: Mild

Your ligaments will be stretched but not torn. You may feel some pain and stiffness, yet you should still be stable.

• Grade 2: Moderate

One or more ligaments are partially torn. You may be in some pain and there will be mild swelling. Your joint won’t be completely stable, and you won’t be able move it as much as usual.

• Grade 3: Severe

One or more of your ligaments is totally torn, and your ankle is unstable. You have a lot of pain and its unlikely that you’ll be able to move it.

Broken ankle Vs sprained ankle

With a broken ankle you are likely to feel mild to moderate pain. Whereas with a broken ankle you are likely to feel a numbness or tingling, which you don’t get with a sprain.

Ordinarily, a broken ankle can take 6-8 weeks to recover. Where a sprain may recover in a few days to a couple of weeks, if it's not too severe.

What is the fastest way to heal a sprained ankle?

Following advice provided by the NHS, the fastest way to heal a sprained ankle is to follow the 4 steps of RICE therapy in order to bring down swelling and support the injury:¹

It is thought that to help prevent swelling that you should avoid the heat, such as hot baths and heat baths, massages and alcohol for the first few days.

From this point – when you are able to move the injured area without pain stopping you, you should try to keep it moving so the joint or muscle doesn’t become stiff.

What cardio exercise can I do with a sprained ankle?

It is possible to do some cardio training if you’re injury isn’t too severe.

It might be worth looking into swimming or riding a stationary bicycle.

It’s thought that these exercises get the heart pumping, but don’t put too much strain on the ankle in the same way that exercises such as walking or jogging will.

However, the important thing in the early stages will be to build up the muscle around the damaged ankle. You can do that by following the below exercises.

10 ankle sprain exercises

According to NHS Oxford University Hospitals, the following exercises can be carried out as part of your at home rehabilitation for a sprained ankle.

If you are feeling stiffness from your foot being placed in the same position, the following exercises may help – it’s recommended that you do them 3 or 4 times a day.²

1. Dorsiflexion and plantarflexion

A fairly simple one to begin with, which will help stretch your ankle ligaments and allow the muscle to build around the damaged area:

• Point your foot up, then down.
• Repeat ten times.

2. Inversion and eversion

Again, this is a pretty straightforward exercise that will allow the damaged foot to stretch.

• Bend the sole of the foot inwards, then outwards.
• Repeat ten times.

3. Assisted exercise

Use a towel or something which doesn’t stretch easily to assist you with the above dorsiflexion and Inversion exercises.

Over time, this will allow for more flexibility as your muscles begin to develop again after injury.

4. Seated heel raises

You may then be able to progress onto the following, which will look at stretching the whole foot, including the heel and ankle ligaments.

• Sit on a chair with your feet flat on the floor.
• Raise your heel slowly off the floor.
• And then slowly bring back down.
• Repeat 10 times.

5. Ankle slides

Once you progress and you begin to feel strength in the foot, you may be able to do the follow exercise by putting some weight on it.

• Sit on a chair with your feet flat on the floor.
• Slide your injured foot backwards and forwards while flat on the floor.
• Repeat ten times.

6. Toe crunching

As you begin to get more strength and flexibility in your ankle and feet you may be able to do the following.

• Sit on a chair and place a towel in front of you.
• Place your injured foot on the towel.
• Then try to “bunch” the towel together using your toes.
• Repeat 10 times.

Once your injured ankle begins to improve, you may feel ready to progress onto the following:

7. Leg stretch

• Stand upright stretching one leg behind you.
• Bend your forward leg and keep the heel of your back leg on the floor.
• Hold for 30 seconds, then relax.
• Repeat 10 times

8. Supported heel raise

• Lean on a support and raise your heels off the floor.
• Repeat ten times.

9. Balancing

• Try balancing on your injured foot for up to ten seconds.
• Repeat ten times.

10.  One legged heel raise

• Lean on a support and stand on one leg.
• Raise your heel off the floor.
• Repeat ten times.

Is it OK to walk on a sprained ankle?

If you are able to do the above exercises you may be ready to try walking.

Ultimately, you need to listen to your body and put weight on your injured ankle as soon as pain allows.

Over time you will be able to increase the distances you walk. Try using even strides with your heel first and then toe.

Last updated: 6 August 2021