Ankle Sprain Myth #1 - It should take 1-3 months to fully heal a sprained ankle
First of all, the idea that it should take months to heal a sprained ankle is absurd. Granted, your friends may have had experiences, or even you may have had experiences where it took that long in the past. And it certainly can! But, the key point is that it does not have to take months. With the right kind of rehab for your ankle, it can take about a week.

The only reason it takes months is because you are doing the wrong things to heal your ankle. Unfortunately, there just isn't a lot of good information out there and most people rely on what they hear... So, most people are unknowingly taking the slowest and worst road possible to a good ankle recovery. But, to put it simply, for most twists and sprains, you can be out of pain and walking normally again in about a week. For more severe sprains, it can take about 2 weeks. But, this requires you to use the right kind of ankle rehab treatment.

Ankle Sprain Myth #2 - Rest and Ice are the best treatments for a sprained ankle
Here is a simple fact: ice on a sprained ankle is effective for 36-48 hours. Yes, it is effective for about 1 1/2 days, but then it is a waste of time. This is a clinical fact, so it is very odd why it is not known by more people. After the first 48 hours, you need to start doing other things to rehab your ankle. And there are a few healing techniques that work really well after 2 days when the ice stops being effective.

Now, let's talk about rest... rest is actually good for you for more than 2 days. But, here is the key point about rest... pure rest is BAD for your ankle. Depending on the severity of your injury, you may need to rest it more than others, but it has been shown very convincingly that the ankle responds much better to a mixture of rest and active rehab treatment. That includes exercises and stretches that strengthen the ligaments in and around the ankle joint.

But, doing any old stretch and random exercise is not going to get it done. There are specific stretches and exercises that have shown to be the most effective kind of treatment. Putting together the techniques that you start doing after the ice is no longer effective with the new kinds of stretches and exercises for your ankle will give you the maximum benefits and help you heal within about a week instead of months.

Ankle Sprain Myth #3 - You should have to tape, wrap or brace your ankles
This may be one of the most dangerous myths of all. To understand why this is so bad for you, consider the following: the ankle is one of your most mobile joints. Go ahead, wiggle it all around. You see how mobile it is? Now, try and do the same thing with your knees. Can you? Of course not.

The reason for this is that the knees are meant to be stable. Well, guess what happens when you take a mobile joint (the ankle) and make it immobile? The body goes to the next joint up and tries to get mobility from there. Is this starting to sound bad? It should. ACL tears and injuries to the knee occur in the tens of thousands every year. And 70% of them are NON-CONTACT injuries. Keep in mind that an ACL tear is a very serious injury.

So, you do not want to make the ankle immobile. In our opinion, taping or bracing the ankle is almost always a bad idea. What you need to do is strengthen the ankles so that they are at a low risk for ankle sprains and make sure they can function naturally.

Again, the key is the right kind of ankle treatment. You want strength in the ligaments, mobility in the calf and stability in the ankle joint. You want it to move correctly and be at a low risk of future injury. Rest and ice won't get it done on their own. You need the help of rehab on your sprained ankle to really get the job done right! And that is what the H.E.M. Sprained Ankle Rehab Treatment is all about. It focuses on all the best treatment methods for getting you the best possible results quickly and safely.