When to use an ankle brace (2024)

FAQs

When to use an ankle brace? ›

Ankle braces aren't just for prevention; they're also used during the rehabilitation process. If you're recovering from an ankle injury, your healthcare provider might recommend wearing a brace to provide additional support and stability as you heal. This helps prevent further damage and aids in a quicker recovery.

Ankle braces aren't just for prevention; they're also used during the rehabilitation process. If you're recovering from an ankle injury, your healthcare provider might recommend wearing a brace to provide additional support and stability as you heal. This helps prevent further damage and aids in a quicker recovery.

If you wear an orthosis or brace on your feet, ankles or knees, you need to wear some sort of sock underneath it. The sock protects your skin, keeps your skin dry and helps prevent blisters or sores. For the best protection, wear a sock that extends past the top of your brace.

Wearing an ankle brace can cause reliance

Wearing an ankle brace for too long can cause a reliance on it instead of the natural strength of the ankle. If your young athlete only wears an ankle brace after an injury and does not undergo rehabilitation, the ankle may remain weak, even after healing.

Wearing an ankle brace can help you return to activity quicker after a sprain, as well. It works by reducing the pressure on the recovering ankle allowing a sustainable return to activity. Then as your pain improves you can gradually build your ankle's strength and mobility back up while helping to prevent re-injury.

You may be able to walk with an ankle splint, but often not right away. After injuries such as sprains, fractures, and dislocations occur, they usually need time to heal before weight-bearing. Walking or weight bearing too soon may slow healing or cause further damage.

It's best to take an ankle brace off at night and while you sleep to give your skin time to breathe and reduce the risk of blisters or sores.

What is the difference between an ankle brace and ankle support? Typically an ankle brace is considered a more rigid device. An ankle support is softer and has more mobility. The long-term wearing of an ankle brace will weaken your ankle.

A brace can help to reduce strain, tension, and pressure on the ankle joint. One of the major uses of an ankle brace is to immobilize the joint and help to reduce swelling after an injury. Among the many problems that can be helped by wearing an ankle brace are sprains, Achilles tendonitis, and arthritis.

Wearing an ankle brace has some benefits over taping an ankle. Taping is more time-consuming than putting on a brace and there's greater room for error. If the ankle isn't taped properly, it won't offer enough support to reduce the risk of injury.

Why is ankle taping better than a brace? ›

Limited brace sizes means they don't fit everyone perfectly. And, braces have a higher upfront cost than tape. On the other hand, when tape is correctly applied, it provides customized support to the ankle, and can be more comfortable and fit better in athletic shoes.

Current research indicates ankle brace use in high school-aged athletes lowers the incidence of acute ankle injuries, but not the severity. Ankle braces are not shown to reduce the severity of ankle, knee or other lower extremity injuries.

In most cases, if you have strong ankles and aren't constantly putting your ankles at risk, then preventative ankle bracing isn't for you. However, preventative braces are a good idea if you play a sport with a high incidence of ankle injuries like volleyball or basketball.

You're very likely to benefit from wearing an ankle brace if you have a significant ankle ligament tear (Grade 2 or 3). (Read more about the grading of ankle ligament tears.) Minor ankle sprains usually don't require a brace, but Grade 2 and 3 sprains can benefit from one.

DON'T do activities that will increase swelling. Avoid early use of heat or too much activity, standing, or sitting with the ankle hanging. DON'T play sports again until pain and swelling are gone and the ankle is strong.

An ankle brace should be tight enough to restrict motion but not so tight that it cuts off circulation.

Indications. Ankle braces are indicated for ankle trauma with small fractures or without fracture, immobilization of the joint, postoperative synovitis, sprains or inflammations of the joint, weak muscles in the ankle, among others.

Most have shown that braces are slightly more effective than taping but that both are better than no support at all. One study found that simply wearing high-top sneakers instead of low-tops prevented some ankle injuries and that high-tops plus taping had more than 50% fewer injuries than low-tops plus taping.

If you have a history of recurring ankle sprains, we recommend strapping your ankle during sports, physical activity, and any activities on uneven ground that may put you at risk of another sprain. Foot strapping can be useful for plantar fasciitis, ligament damage, tendonitis, heel spurs and many other conditions.

Three times as many athletes sprained their ankle while playing without ankle braces than playing with one. This was true for girls and boys, varsity and JV, freshman and seniors alike. 68% fewer first-time ankle injuries happened while the athletes were wearing ankle braces.