The ankle is one of the most complicated joints in the body. Which makes it that much more difficult to gain strength and range of motion back to your ankle after you've broken it. Starting a rehabilitation program as soon as you can following your broken ankle will help speed up your recovery and enable you to get back to the action.
Towel Stretch
Once you can handle putting pressure on the ball of your foot, you can start stretching exercises. One of the easiest ones is the standard towel stretch. Sit on the floor with both feet extended out in front of you. Keep your legs together and your toes pointed up towards the ceiling. Wrap a towel around the balls of your feet. Hold one end of the towel in each hand. Pull gently back with the towel on your feet. Hold for 10 to 15 seconds, then relax. Repeat two to three times.
Range of Motion Exercise
Once the swelling in your ankle has gone down, you can start doing range-of-motion exercises to help restore normal motion in your ankle. Sit on the floor with your legs together and place a towel under the lower leg of your injured ankle. Practice writing the letters of the alphabet slowly in the air with your injured foot. Go through the whole alphabet, then rest your ankle and repeat.
Towel Scrunch and Scoop
Strengthening your ankle doesn't mean you have to hit the weights. There are certain strengthening exercises you can do from home to help. Find a spot in your house with a smooth, hard surface. Sit in a hard-backed chair and place a towel on the floor. Start by scrunching the towel with your toes and pulling the towel towards the chair. Next, practice scooping the towel to the side with the side of your injured foot. Scoop the towel as far to the side as possible, then reposition your foot and do it again. Once the exercise becomes too easy, try placing weights or heavy objects like books to increase the difficulty.
Step Ups
Once you're able to put your full body weight on your injured ankle, you can start doing step ups to strengthen your ankle and the muscles in your leg that support it. Stand in front of a step and place your injured foot on top of the step. Use your leg muscles to lift your body up so your non-injured leg comes up to the same level of the step. Lower your body back down, still keeping your injured ankle on the step. Repeat this process 10 to 15 times.
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