How can I exercise to strengthen my ankle joint function when I always break my foot during sports?
Broken foot, medically known as ankle sprain, is something that people often encounter in their daily lives. When people are walking up and down the stairs, walking in the street, or doing sports, they may step off the steps, or collide with bricks and stones or tree stumps, or run and jump on the ground unsteadily, and the gravity imbalance causes the foot to turn inward or outward suddenly and sprain the ankle joint.
Improper treatment is prone to repeated sprains
Broken foot should be distinguished from the severity of the injury. If the injury is serious, you must go to the hospital to ask a foot and ankle doctor for diagnosis and treatment. Improper early treatment after a broken foot can cause excessive ligament relaxation, leading to ankle instability, causing repeated sprains, and in serious cases, affecting walking function.
Cold and hot compresses
Cold and hot compresses are both commonly used treatment methods, but they work very differently.
If you have a mild sprain or a serious sprain but cannot go to the hospital right away, apply cold compresses immediately. To the injured foot and ankle immersed in cold water (water can put some ice), 30 minutes each time (the first time 1 hour), once every 4 hours; can also be sprayed locally freezing agent; or ice in a plastic bag, wrapped in a wet towel external compress, 3 minutes to change once, for 30 minutes. Cold compress can make vasoconstriction, reduce tissue temperature, reduce local bleeding, to stop bleeding, reduce swelling and analgesia.
Two days after the injury requires hot compresses, or the use of infrared, ultra-short wave and other thermal therapy methods to promote local blood circulation, tissue interstitial exudate as soon as possible to absorb, thereby reducing pain. Do not massage, hot compress, use blood-stasis activating drugs and walk immediately after the sprain, as this will aggravate the local injury and bleeding.
Fixation and braking
After ankle sprain, it is important to apply braking treatment. The injured foot should not be moved and weighted too early to avoid affecting the healing of the fracture and the rehabilitation of the joint function. For mild ankle sprains, use a tension bandage to wrap the foot or ankle joint, rest appropriately, elevate the affected lower limb, and try to follow the ground with the foot when walking, which can generally heal in 1~2 weeks.
Ankle exercise helps recovery
Proper exercise after sprain can promote the healing and functional recovery of injured tissues and prevent muscle atrophy, joint stiffness and osteoporosis.
When lying down, elevate the affected limb above the heart to allow blood return and reduce foot swelling; when sitting, put the affected foot flat on another chair; when walking, do not use the affected limb to step on the ground to carry weight, hold a double crutch or sit in a wheelchair.
If a broken foot causes a fracture, you can move your upper body, such as doing sit-ups, lifting dumbbells, and lifting your buttocks and abdomen. You can also lie flat on your back, hold the side of the bed with both hands, do bicycle strokes with both legs in the air, flex and extend your toes, etc.
Functional exercises should be carried out gradually during the rehabilitation phase. To perform ankle mobility training, make the joint pull to the limit and insist on 15 seconds, recover, repeat 10 times, and do it 4~6 times a day. Ankle dorsiflexion pull: pull the affected foot backward to the limit. Ankle plantar flexion pull: pull the affected foot forward to the limit. Ankle inversion pull: pull the foot inward to the limit. Ankle valgus pull: pull the foot outward to the limit.
In addition, ankle isometric strength training is also performed. Ankle valgus isometric strength training: hold the affected foot externally against a table leg or door panel, force the muscle externally and hold it for 15 seconds, recover, relax for 10 seconds, repeat 5~10 times. Ankle inversion isometric strength training: the affected foot medially against the table leg, wall or door, force the muscle contraction medially and insist for 15 seconds, recover, relax for 10 seconds, repeat 5~10 times.
At present, there are many foot and ankle protectors and supports on the market, such as ankle walker, an adjustable walking boot, which is beneficial to the rehabilitation of soft tissue injuries and fractures in the ankle.
High or low heel is easy to break your foot
An important reason for ankle injuries is the lack of self-protection awareness. Cultivating and improving self-protection, improving the muscle strength of the ankle joint, as well as the stability and coordination of the ankle joint, is the key to reducing joint sprains.
It is advisable to wear high-top shoes: after ankle sprains, in order to avoid habitual sprains, high-top shoes should be worn. High-top shoes with built-in orthotics can effectively wrap the foot and ankle joints, correct the deformed position of the foot and ankle and prevent repeated sprains. FooTek orthopedic shoes are specifically designed for this type of situation.
Warm up before exercise: Prepare for a full warm-up before sports activities to prevent ankle sprains.
Walk with mental concentration: When traveling for business or pleasure, especially when walking on uneven roads, or going down hills or steps, be sure to concentrate mentally and try not to think about problems and answer cell phones.
Heel should not be too high or too low: Generally speaking, after the age of 50, the plantar muscles and ligaments will undergo degenerative changes, the arch elasticity is weakened or disappeared, the ability to bear weight will also decline, compared with young people are more likely to break the foot or more serious injury. Therefore, you should wear shoes with a certain height of the heel, 1.5~3 cm is appropriate. This will help limit excessive directional rotation and enhance stability during activities.