Ankle Sprains: The Basketballers Guide
Ankle sprains…they say you are not a true baller until you have felt the pain of rolling your ankle. Either that or you a true baller who has strong and mobile ankles alongside a massive dose of luck.
According to the 17-year review from the NBA and the report from National Athletic Trainers’ Association, foot and ankle injuries lead the way when it comes to basketball. Ankle sprains coming top. This will occur when you twist, turn or roll your ankle further than the tissues can tolerate. This is most likely to happen when driving past another player or landing awkwardly.
Ankle sprains will often result in pain and sometimes, swelling, bruising and stiffness. Most sprained ankles involve injuries to the ligaments on the outer side of the ankle. These ligaments help stabilise the joint. Some sprains will take a couple of days to recover, whilst others will take weeks to months.
Although self-management is often all that is required, I do recommend getting it checked out if it does not start improving, pain and swelling are worsening or you have a high temperature/feeling unwell. Most importantly, if you heard a crack at the time of injury, the ankle has changed shape or the ankle is numb, discoloured or cold, go to A&E.
Remember, these resources should not replace diagnosis and management from a medical professional. Always check before you follow the guidance.
Symptoms
The symptoms of ankle sprains vary depending on the severity of the injury. They may include:
- Pain, especially when you weight bear
- Tenderness to touch
- Swelling
- Bruising
- Decreased range of motion
- Feeling of instability
- Popping sensation or sound at the time of injury
Risk factors
Unfortunately, when it comes to basketball, there is a risk of spraining an ankle. Basketball involves jumping, pivoting and cutting actions, which leaves you more susceptible to rolling an ankle. For instance, it is impossible to stop yourself from landing on someone’s foot if they have moved in your way as you cut or land from rebounding. In addition, the following factors could increase your risk of a sprained ankle:
- Prior ankle injury: you are more likely to sprain your ankle again if you return to training too quickly or you skip rehabbing the ankle.
- Avoidance: Whilst rushing back too quickly can be a problem for some, doing the opposite can be a problem too. Too much rest or avoiding certain actions can result in poor conditioning. Likewise, overuse of supports can lead to a poorly conditioned ankle. Unfortunately, there is no magic prescription for this.
- Poor conditioning: Poor strength and/or mobility in the ankles may increase the risk of a sprain
- Ill-fitting shoes/boots (kicks, creps, feet whips, sneakers, dunks, chucks, jays, high tops, lows, tires, squeaks all apply): Shoes that don’t fit properly or that allow the foot to move in them can be a risk factor. The most important feature I look for is one that gives a good grip on the court.
Minimising Risk
The following tips can help you minimise the risk of a sprained ankle or a recurring sprain:
- Warm-up before you train or play – make sure you warm up the ankles using ankling and mobility drills before strapping up your shoes
- Wear shoes that fit well and give a good grip on the court.
- Ankle conditioning – the ankle needs to be able to tolerate being taken through a full range of movement and being strong in different positions.
- Conditioning so the ankle can tolerate running, jumping and landing
- Hip and core conditioning is key to helping with running, jumping and landing mechanics.
- Practice stability training, including balance exercises.
- Supports and taping can be utilised, but not in replacement of the above.
- Good nutrition and sleep are key to the body functioning properly but often missed when it comes to minimising the risk of injuries. Making sure you eat well, replenish after games and training and get good rest, all minimise the risk of injuries.
Treatment
Treatment for a sprained ankle can vary dependent on the severity of your injury. The first focus is to promote healing of the ligament. Then the focus can be to restore the function of the ankle before sports specific rehab. Final steps are a graded return to play programme.
Initial management
- Optimise load: For a short period of time, reduce or modify activity to allow pain to settle. Complete rest should be minimised and find the balance between rest and movement.
- If needed, take pain relief medication. Over the counter medication is usually sufficient. Speak to pharmacist or GP about medication if you are uncertain of what you can take. Just remember that the body needs inflammation to help your tissues heal, taking anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen in the first 48-72hrs may slow down recovery times.
- Consider a support or taping in the early days to allow mobilisation
- Use an ice pack or ice slush bath for 15 to 20 minutes and repeat every two to three hours while you’re awake. Remember to check the skin regularly to make sure you don’t give yourself freezer burn. If you have vascular disease, diabetes or decreased sensation, talk with your doctor before applying ice.
- Consider your nutrition for recovery
- Make sure you get a good night’s sleep
Mobility Aids
If walking on the sprained ankle is too painful, you may need to use crutches until the pain subsides. Moving the ankle in non-weight-bearing positions is still recommended though. Depending on the severity of the sprain, your therapist may recommend an elastic bandage, sports tape or an ankle support brace to stabilise the ankle so you can continue to use the ankle as normal as possible.
Rehab
Once the swelling and pain has lessened enough to resume movement, rehab consists of a series of exercises to restore your ankle’s range of motion, strength, flexibility and stability. Exercises will need to be progressed to ensure you continue to improve. The level of exercises is usually based on pain tolerance levels, this can vary from person to person. Keep your eyes peeled for more articles in this series on ankle sprains.
Balance and stability training is especially important to retrain the ankle muscles to work together to support the joint and to help prevent recurrent sprains. These exercises may involve various degrees of balance challenge, such as standing on one leg. It is important for the ankle to be strong in all ranges of movement so it can tolerate load.
Return to Sport
Once the ankle is able to tolerate normal movements and loads. It is important to do basketball-specific drills as part of rehab. Building this up gradually is essential, those that return too soon or try rushing rehab often go backwards and it takes longer.
If your training volume was a potential contributing factor to ankle pain or injury, seeing a performance coach or therapist may be required. They can help with training loads and put a suitable plan together to reduce the risk of reoccurrence.
A gradual return to training and games is also recommended.
That’s the basketballers overview guide for sprained ankles. Stay tuned for further info and resources on specific stages of rehab for ankle sprains.