What are the key rehabilitation strategies to implement for a patient recovering from an ankle sprain?

Key rehabilitation strategies for a patient recovering from an ankle sprain include:

• Early mobilization: Initiate gentle movement and weight-bearing as soon as clinically appropriate to reduce pain, swelling, and improve function, rather than prolonged immobilization ¹.
• Exercise therapy: Implement a tailored exercise program focusing on strength, balance, proprioception, and coordination to restore functional joint stability and prevent recurrence. This includes resistance training, balance training, and task-specific exercises ¹,².
• Use of functional support: Employ ankle braces or taping for 4–6 weeks during exercise to protect the joint, improve stability, and reduce the risk of re-injury, especially in athletes or those engaging in high-risk activities ¹.
• Physiotherapy referral: Consider referral for supervised physiotherapy to guide exercise therapy and assess the need for external support, particularly if recovery is slow or symptoms persist ¹.
• Gait re-education and weight-bearing progression: Start gait training and progressive weight-bearing exercises early to restore normal walking patterns and muscle function ².
• Range of movement and stretching exercises: Provide passive, active-assisted, and active range of movement exercises to maintain and improve ankle joint mobility ².
• Swelling management: Advise elevation, circulation exercises, and consider compression under specialist supervision to reduce oedema ².
• Self-care advice: Encourage warm-up and cool-down routines, use of appropriate footwear, gradual progression of activity intensity, and avoidance of exercise when in pain or fatigued to prevent re-injury ¹.