Sprained Ankle Rehab: Balance Boards
April 24, 2008 by Bryon Powell · 4 Comments
The head idiot at iRunFar has once again sprained his ankle. Doh! It’s nothing major … it’s happened before and it’ll happen again. However, with fine spring weather here and some pacing fun coming up soon, we’ve got our crack staff thinking about how to rehab the ankle ASAP. Sure there’s the RICE (Rest. Ice. Compression. Elevation.) part of rehab in the short term, but what about after that. Well, a balance board or wobble board is an excellent way to rehab an ankle. Using a balance board will help improve:
- Range of motion;
- Strength of support muscles; and
- Propioception – the body’s near-instantaneous sensing of joint position.
Can anyone recommend the best type/design of balance board for rehabbing an ankle? Any specific brands of wobble board that you’ve found to be particularly well designed or built?
Carefully running trails is also a good way to help rehab an ankle – particularly the proprioception aspect. Just in case you were wondering, carefully running trails does not include running rocky sections of trail after dark with no headlamp. No, that’s just a good way to sprain your ankle in the first place.
Related articles:
- Apathy, Your Body, and Trail Running: A Worse Combination! A discussion of why trail runners often fail to address supplemental needs such as sleep, stretching, diet, and rehab when it would make their trail running so much more enjoyable....
- New Balance Minimus Amp (MT1010) Preview A sneak speak of New Balance's Minimus Amp (MT1010) minimalist, low-drop trail running shoe....
- New Balance Minumus Line: A Sneak Peak A sneak peak and New Balance's Minimus line with insight from Anton Krupicka and designer Chris Wawrousek....
Filed under Resources, Training ·
Bryon Powell is the Editor-in-Chief of iRunFar.com, which he founded five years ago. Also the author of Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons and a contributing editor at Trail Runner magazine, he's quickly approaching 10 years as an ultrarunner and 20 years as a trail runner. These days he calls Park City, Utah and its trails home.
All posts by Bryon Powell
Ugh…heal fast !
Thanks, Tony. Though my ankle is swollen and finally turning bruising, I did managed 3.5 miles on a flat bike path last night. Couldn’t really turn left, but managed other than that. I’m looking to bounce back quickly and do some rehab so this doesn’t happen again in a month.
d’oh! hope it heals up quickly.
Thanks, Angie. I’m gaining range of motion and the pain while running is subsiding. The ankle is a bit more achy, but much more cooperative in general. Yesterday, I hit the trails for 5 or 6 miles during a 12 mile run and even through in some impromptu hill repeats.