It's the road to recovery...get it?
Like many others, you may be under the impression that RICE is as far as you can go when it comes to recovering from an ankle injury. You are wrong. Though RICE is important for initial treatment for sprained ankle injuries, after this 48 hour period your job turn from prevention to rehabilitation. It is important to be actively rehabilitating you ankle or you’ll be left with a long road to recovery.
A short recovery time of course begins with RICE, discussed in further detail here. All of the elements of RICE are aimed at preventing reinjury and especially preventing swelling.
Why is swelling the bad guy? Because it makes scar tissue later. Now why on Earth our bodies would make something that is detrimental to our recover is beyone me. But the point is that we DON”T want scar tissue to form. Though we can’t prevent ALL scar tissue from forming, we can make sure it doesn’t get out of hand.
RICE will reduce swelling and therefore the amount of scar tissue that forms later, but what do we do with the rest? Massage and stretching.
The body will natually get rid of some of the scar tissue, but in order to aid in this process we need to begin massaging after RICE is finished. The degree of strength you use in massage all depends on what you can handle. You should be firm but not violent. Of course the first time you touch your injured ankle it will be tender, but as you recover, you will be able to apply more and more pressure. Pain is ok, but only do what you can handle. It’s not an S&M thing.
Massaging keeps fresh blood coming in and going out of the area which carries away broken down scar tissue. Yes, I know, RICE was aimed at keeping blood and other fluid out of the area, but now we want to promote blood flow? The key word is flow. Fresh blood flowing through the injured area will help to carry away not only broken down scar tissue, but also ‘old blood’ (the bruise) and other materials lingering left over from the injury. Also, be sure to drink lots of fluids to help with cleansing and expulsion of these materials.
When should you begin stretching? Stretching should be taken in the same manner as massaging ‘慢慢来’ or ‘take it easy’. Depending on what degree of injury you have, the amount of pain and discomfort will vary. If you injury is a sprain and not a break, you should begin to feel better after the 48 hour RICE period. If you are still in a lot of pain (for example you can’t sleep at night) this is not an injury that you can treat at home. Consult a professional.
Beginning stretching exercises are simple. Move you ankle back and forth. Draw the abc’s in the air. Make circles with your big toe. Basically test your flexibility. Dr. Kim has a cool thing with putting your foot in icy/hot water for periods of time. This is also aimed at promoting blood flow, and maybe a bit at curing boredom (in my opinion 
. As you gain back more flexibility, start applying pressure to the ankle by placing it on the floor. Just placing it on the floor may be a bit uncomfortable, but this is a starting point to walking. If placing it on the floor puts you in a lot of pain, especially if that pain is felt somewhere else other than you ankle, you may be dealing with a break.
Stretching also promotes blood flow, and prevents scar tissue from settling in and hardening. The longer scar tissue is around, the more difficult it will be to get rid of it. Stretching will also increase flexibility of your tendons, and decrease the amount of scar tissue around the ankle making massage more effective in it’s breakdown.
From there it’s obvious. Floor placement to standing, standing to walking, walking to more difficult stretching moves. There are some great ideas in the ankle exercises portion of this site. Using just a towel and a wall you can create many simple exercises that can be performed at home. As you build up strength, stairs, running, and jumping will slowly come back to you.
A great program to help with ankle recover and getting rid of scar tissue is called H.E.M. ankle rehab. Click HERE to learn more!