Sports Ankle Brace

Several years ago I injured my ankle while running. It didn’t completely heal, so as a physician, I set out to find the perfect sports ankle brace. My first stop was the then famous “air cast”. This was a great way to stop the circulation in my ankle, but did little to help the pain and swelling. The next sports ankle brace I tried was the old fashioned lace-up models. They were a nightmare to get on and off, but did supply some stability. After trying 10-12 braces, I finally settled on something that worked, the Bauerfeind Malleoloc.  This was an easy sports ankle brace to get on and off and actually provided some stability. Alas, after walking around with this thing for years, I finally decided to get the ligaments fixed using prolotherapy. This worked reasonably well and took a few injections. Today there are even newer ways to fix these ligaments with the injection of stem cells. The video below will provide more information:

Strained Ligament in Ankle

As a physician with a bad ankle, I know this one first hand.  A strained ligament in ankle means that the ankle ligaments are stretched but not completely broken.  The ankle ligaments are like duct tape that hold the bones together.  Normally, the area swells as the body attracts resources to heal the small ligament tears.  However, in some people, the tears are too big and the ligaments remain stretched out and the ankle is unstable (too much movement between the bones).  This instability causes other problems including swelling and extra wear and tear on the cartilage.  If left untreated, the ankle will develop arthritis much quicker than normal. While the only way to treat this was surgery or bracing, newer stem cell injection based treatments can heal the tear and restore normal stability without surgery.  For more information, the video below is helpful: