Get your ankle strong, steady and back on the field

You cannot tell from swelling or bruising alone, because a sprain can look just as dramatic as a fracture. Your physiotherapist uses a set of clinical rules that check bone tenderness at specific points and whether you can take four steps on the leg. If those signs are present, we arrange imaging. If they are not, a scan usually adds nothing and rehabilitation can start straight away.

Sprains are graded one to three. Grade one means the ligament is overstretched with minimal tearing, and you can usually walk. Grade two means a partial tear with more swelling, bruising and difficulty weight bearing. Grade three means a complete tear, with marked instability. Grading guides how much protection you need early and how quickly your loading progresses, but all three grades are usually managed without surgery.

A high ankle sprain affects the syndesmosis, the ligaments that bind your two lower leg bones together just above the joint. It typically happens with a twisting force through a planted foot. Pain sits above the ankle rather than below it, and hurts most when you push off or rotate. High ankle sprains generally need longer protection and a slower return to sport than a standard lateral sprain.

Bracing and taping can reduce the risk of a repeat sprain, particularly during sport in the first season after an injury. They limit extreme ankle roll and give your muscles a fraction more warning time. They are not a substitute for strength and balance work, though, and tape loses much of its support within twenty minutes of activity. Most people use them alongside rehabilitation, not instead of it.

Repeat sprains are common because the ligament contains sensors that tell your brain where your foot is, and those sensors are damaged in the original injury. Your reaction time on that side drops, so the foot does not correct itself fast enough on uneven ground. Calf and hip weakness adds to it. Targeted balance and reactive training rebuilds that control, which is why rehabilitation continues after the pain stops.

Yes. In growing children, the growth plate near the end of the shin bone can be weaker than the surrounding ligaments, so a rolling injury may damage bone where an adult would sprain a ligament. Children with bone tenderness after an ankle injury need careful assessment, even when swelling looks minor. Once a fracture is ruled out, most children recover well with graded activity and balance work.