Pickleball Ankle Injury Prevention

With the rise in popularity of Pickleball we are also seeing an increase in Pickleball related injuries.  The most common injuries we are seeing are ankle injuries and shoulder injuries.  With this we wanted to talk about ways to rehab after your Pickleball injury and we also want to address ways to try and prevent injuries (hint: often the exercises and stretches we do for rehab are good at helping to prevent injury as well).

In this post we will be focusing on the ankle injury of which the most common is the inversion ankle sprain.  This is the classic “I twisted/rolled my ankle”.  Most people will experience a certain amount of swelling with the injury, and we often find it feels better when we ice it and elevate it to try and reduce the swelling.  From a chiropractic standpoint we often find that there are some misalignments/fixations that take place and by adjusting these points we can often speed up the recovery time.  The main fixations we find are of the fibula (the small bone on the outside of the lower leg) as well as some of the ankle bones (calcaneus, talus, and navicular in particular).  On top of this there also can be injuries to the tendons (attach muscle to bone) and/or the ligaments (attach bone to bone).  The injuries that occur to the tendons and ligaments often do well with bracing/taping in the short term to help increase stability and reduce the likelihood of re-spraining the ankle while the injury is still fresh.

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Pickleball Ankle Injury Prevention Using A Wobble Board

Click to view Dr. Kunsman's instructional video for using a wobble board to prevent Pickleball ankle injuries.

The severity of the strain/sprain will determine the length of recovery and how soon you can do different rehab exercises and how soon you can get back to your normal activities.  Reach out to your healthcare professional for what timeframe might be best for you.  A simple stretch you should be able to start with right away are ankle circles.  You can do the ankle circles from either sitting or standing, you will want to be on the ball of your foot with light pressure then slowly and gently rotate the ankle for approximately 30 seconds in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions.  You can do this several times a day, but make sure to stay within tolerance (if the pain increases stop and consult your medical professional).  Another thing you can do to reduce swelling and increase mobility is place your foot in an ice water bucket and write the alphabet with your toes making sure the movement comes from the ankle.

If you can stand with equal pressure on both feet, you should be ready to move onto wobble board exercises.  Wobble board exercises can help to increase the strength and endurance of the stabilizer muscles around the ankle.  Some people have even noticed that their knees do better when doing these stabilizing exercises.  The wobble board exercises are a series of 5 one-minute exercises.  First you will do a front to back rock for one minute, followed by a side-to-side rock for one minute.  Third and fourth will be clockwise and counterclockwise rotations (one minute in each direction).  Lastly you will want to just balance on the board for one minute trying not to let the edges touch the ground.  These exercises are safe to perform daily and can be done for either rehab or as part of a prevention strategy.
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These different strategies aren’t guaranteed to eliminate the possibility of ankle sprains but can help to significantly reduce the likelihood of spraining your ankle.  Some people have found that even if they do sprain their ankle by having done these exercises the severity of the injury is reduced and their recovery time is shorter, getting them back to doing what they love doing faster.    ​

As always, if you are located near us in Vallejo, California, feel free to reach out for an appointment with one of our Chiropractors anytime. Stay safe!