Your ankles can suffer sprains such as inversion -- the outer part of your ankle -- and eversion -- the inner part of your ankle -- that hinder your ability to walk, run or stand up straight. You can perform exercises that add resistance via rubber exercise bands or your own body weight to your injured ankle muscles and joints to help strengthen them and restore mobility. Consult your doctor if you feel any intense pain during exercise.
Inversion and Eversion Isometrics
Inversion and eversion isometric exercises use an isometric action to stretch the muscles and joints in your ankles. For inversion, stand and place the inside of your injured foot against a table leg or door jam. Push inward until you feel muscle tension and hold this position for two to three seconds. For eversion, perform the same action with your foot using the outside of your foot. Perform 10 to 15 repetitions, two to three times daily.
Exercise Bands
Exercise bands add resistance to your injured ankle as you perform inversion and eversion movements. Sit down with the leg of the injured ankle straight out in front of your body. Tie one end of the elastic band to the forefront of your foot and the other to a heavy object such as a table. Pull your ankle away from the table until you feel muscle tension in your medial ankle. Avoid rotating your leg through the exercise. Hold this position briefly and return to starting position. Perform the same action with the inversion exercise, feeling muscle tension in the outside muscles and joints of your ankle. Do 10 to 15 repetitions two to three times daily.
Stretches
Stretches that target the muscles and joints in and around the ankle help strengthen them by using your body weight as a form of resistance. These exercises can be performed using a wall, such as the calf stretch, or a towel, such as the single leg stand or lateral step. You can also perform exercises such as ankle circles and ankle plantarflexion and dorsiflexion, with or without using your hands to pull on your ankle and add resistance, to restore your ankle's range of motion and restore your overall balance.
Considerations
Protect your ankle after exercise with a splint that may be issued by your doctor. You can wrap it in medical tape, or a cloth bandage, applying light pressure to compress your ankle to reduce swelling. In addition, icing your ankle several times a day can reduce swelling. Relieve some pressure from your ankle if you feel the bandages become too tight around it to increase blood flow to your feet. Rest from activities that put excessive weight on your injured ankle and keep your ankle elevated at hip level when sitting and lying down. Use one to several pillows when lying down or a chair when sitting.
