any help would be grateful about a ankle injury

[steve]

my son (10) has torn a ligament in his ankle after playing football, he has just come out of a cast after a week as they thought it might be a fracture but it wasnt as it was his growing plates in his ankle so they said it was a torn ligament, so my question is, is there any sort of physio i can do for him at home to help him back playing again, as all i got from the doctor was to just rest the ankle for a week and play no sports or running but i want to make sure that his ankle is fit and ready for him to be playing football again for as long as it takes to be right again

many thanks for any help

[therapist_24]

Hello,
I M A Physio Frm India.
At Home,the Regime Is,
1. Rest
2. Use Ice Therapy After Every 4 Hours,it Ll Help In Reducing Pain.
3. Use Crepe Bandage Aftr Ice,so As To Immobilize The Part,as 2avoid Any Movement.
4. Aftr 1 Week Start Ankle-toe Movemnts.

Thank U

[steve]

many thanks for your answer, when you say ankle toe movement do you mean wiggling the toes and just general movement of the ankle ?

[therapist_24]

just simple range of motion movements

[steve]

thank you very much

[jwilso]

Hi Steve,
now that your son is out of plaster i would start simple mobilising exercises. foot up-down, rotate in/out and ankle circling. in another week progress to weight bearing stretches for the calf. isometric exerises could be started immediately. this involves working the foot muscles statically(ie pushing hard against something such as a wall that doesnt allow any movement) because there is no movement you cannot injure the ligaments further. after about 3 weeks begin balance training. wobble boards or simply wakling atightrope on the floor works well for this. as a rough guide he will probably be about 80% heaed at 3 months. this should be enough for light training with view to return to sport at 4 months post injury. hope this helps

[charlize29]

Hi Steve,

Before you can start functional rehabilitation, ROM exercise is needed. Once ROM is attained, you can start off with the strengthening of the ankle. Try to focus more on the peroneal group of muscles coz insufficient strength in this muscle group will likely lead to ankle instability and recurrent injury.

Strengthening covers isometrics performed against an immovable object in all planes of motion then it is followed by resistance using ankle weights, theraband or elastic tubing. Take note that resistance training should emphasize more on eccentric contraction.

When you have noticed that there is no longer pain and full weight bearing( FWB) can be tolerated then proceed to proprioceptive training.

Have a look on the exercises .

Hope you get well soon....