Almost anybody that’s active enough in life who moves and walks could have had an ankle sprain in their life. The more common ankle sprain is a lateral ankle sprain. When it happens, you’ve sprained one of the three ligaments. 

• Anterior Fibular ligament
• Calcaneofibular ligament
• Posterior Talofibular ligament

When you sprain an ankle, you’ll have inflammation and swelling. With that pain and swelling, it reduces your sense of stability. Our balance is made up of three systems: 

• Visual system.As with the name, this system is made up of the eyes.
• Proprioceptive system.This system is made up of pressure receptors that are in the majority of your joints in the body. It tells your brain where that body part is in space. 
• Vestibular system.Located in the inner ear, it helps tell your brain where your head is. 

If you’ve had swelling, it will reduce or impair the proprioceptive system and cause instability. Another thing if you have an ankle sprain is that your muscles are not going to react as fast to reduce a future with the same injury. And,  the more often you sprain your ankle, the less likely it is going to heal. 

When you actually sprain an ankle, you’ve torn a ligament. It doesn’t have to be a complete tear, it could be a stretch. But until scar tissue lays down to help reduce that damage, you are going to experience a sense of instability. 

Ankle Stabilization Program: How to test for your balance 

To check your balance and ankle stability, you need to check all three systems (visual, proprioceptive, and vestibular) using the single-leg stance: 

1. Cross the arms and stand on the left leg. Hold the position while keeping the eyes open. Next, do the same thing but do it standing on the right leg.   
2. To take out the visual system, close your eyes. So, cross the arms and stand on the right foot again. Then close the eyes. See how long you can maintain the position because this indicates how much you rely on the visual system.  

Do you want to learn more able ankle injuries? You can check out our blog post on what constitutes an ankle injury. 

How can kinesiology tape help with an ankle sprain?

Among the numerous benefits of kinesiology tape, it gives support to the area that it’s applied to. It also improves blood flow and fluid circulation. If you’re experiencing an ankle sprain, learn a kinesiology taping protocol to help alleviate the discomfort. 

Buy Tape Geeks to alleviate ankle sprain discomfort

If you’re treating an ankle sprain with kinesiology tape, you should also consider the quality of the tape that you’re using. Otherwise, you’ll be at higher risk of skin rash and irritation. 

Tape Geeks offers strong yet sensitive kinesiology tape that delivers a great stick without making your skin sick! Our hypoallergenic, latex-free, and water-resistant tapes are available in a variety of eye-catching and vibrant colorways. Manufactured in an ISO-certified facility in South Korea, you can trust our kin tapes for their quality and reliability.

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