Ankle Rehab Exercises:
Improving Your Balance

Ankle rehab exercises that focus on improving your balance are probably the most important part of any ankle rehab program. Balance exercises not only help to improve your proprioception and ankle stability, but they also help to strengthen the ankle muscles in a very functional way.

Balance exercises are often the overlooked component of ankle rehab programs, especially if you are doing your rehab on your own at home.

These balance exercises are just a few of the many ways you can work to make your ankle better after injury.

Start of Simple

The simplest ankle rehab exercise for balance is a single leg stance... standing on just one foot for 15-20 seconds.

It is easy to perform, and requires no special equipment. This one simple exercise works on many levels to improve your ankle function:

It helps to improve your balance
It makes the muscles work more effeciently to keep your ankle stable
It strengthens the muscles
It improves your joint position sense, or proprioception
It works to improve your endurance

All of these benefits are very important to athletic function, as well as having a painfree ankle.

Progressing Balance Exercises

Balance exercises can be progressed in three different ways. Because balance is a combination of three different body systems, you can challenge each of these systems independently, or in combination.

Balance is dependend upon your visual system, your vestibular system (inner ear), and your somatosensory system (feeling and touch).
Single Leg Balance - Unstable Surface

To progress your simple single leg balance, try closing your eyes. This takes away your visual system, so the other two have to work harder to maintain your balance. It is harder than it sounds.

Try balancing on one foot, eyes open, and then turning your head as far as you can to the right, then back to the left. This alters both your visual system and your vestibular system, and will challenge your balance. Any movement of the head will change your vestibular feedback.

Once you master these progressions, you can start changing other things about your balance to make things even harder.

Standing on soft surfaces like a pillow or cusion will force your ankle muscles to work harder and communicate more efficiently with the joint.

I use airex pads in the clinic with a lot of my ankle rehab exercises...they are a great way to challenge your balance. Couch cusions work well too.

Another great way to improve your balance is to start moving your arms or legs in different directions while you are balanced.

Try reaching to the side or behind you, or rotating your hips and reaching your arms.

All of these variations will force your muscles to work in different ways, and your balance will improve.

A Complete Program for Ankle Pain

For a complete program to treat your ankle sprain and ankle pain, you not only need balancing, but strengthening and endurance exercises as well.

I offer all of these in a comprehensive ankle rehabilitation program called Ankle Sprain Solutions.

If you are suffering from ankle pain or a sprained ankle, this is the program for you. It will walk you step by step through the BEST exercises to treat your ankle pain.

Don't underestimate your ankle sprain - it could end up causing more problems than you can imagine.

Summary

Balancing exercises are limitless when it comes to what you can do during your ankle rehab program. Start of with a simple ankle rehab exercise like a single leg stance, and then progress to harder more challenging activities. Only your imagination will determine how far you can push yourself and your ankle.

Do you have a question about the information on this page? If so, ask me and get an answer.

Or if you have experience with this topic, share your story...

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