When to wear ankle support?

[tehk1w1]

Quick question:

I've noticed some guys wear ankle supports and I was do people wear them to prevent injuries or are people wearing them because they already have injuries? If the latter, what constitutes an injury that you want to protect.

I landed on my foot oddly yesterday and it hurts stepping down on it. I don't have lessons until Monday, and I was wondering if I should get one in the hopes that either my foot will heal by then or I'll have something to prevent it from getting worse during lessons.

Thanks!

 

[Vector_X]

Gi or No-Gi? Many people will wear them in nogi along with knee sleeves for additional friction to help reduce the slip factor.

 

[MMABullrider]

If you have a recent injury, a slip on elastic ankle wrap won't offer enough support. Either a lace up or a solid tape job is required.

As for the elastic ankle sleeves, I wear one on my left ankle almost every time I roll. A horse fell on me 6 or 7yrs ago and crushed my ankle, and if I don't wear something to keep heat and pressure on the joint, I'll be sore and stoved up afterwards.

 

[BatBoyJG]

They are mandatory for everyone they are of the up most importance when playing rubber guard

 

[gonzofighter]

The poster commenting on the tape job is 100% right. The cheap slip on ankle supports are generally very poor support, and not specific at all.

Your best bet, if you don't want to go get it checked out by a professional, is to try and remember how you landed. If you rolled over the outside of your foot, which is the most common ankle sprain, you want to make sure to tape up the outside of your ankle, giving lots of support around the "ankle bone" (medial malleolus).

If you rolled over the inside of your foot, do the opposite and support the inside. The ligament on the inside of the ankle (deltoid ligament) is very strong and resillient, so it will give alot of support even if injured.

The most important thing to remember, is that a sprain can be serious if you want to continue to roll and compete. A ligament cannot repair the same way a muscle can, so your body lays down scar tissue instead of new 'ligament tissue'. You want that ligament healed the best it can, and properly, before re-injuring it again. Once you have a joint sprain, you are more prone to have them over and over again.

Lots and lots of ice, rest and compression will be your friend all weekend. Baby it the first few days, dont put any weight on it if its quite painful.

Hope that helps!

 

[tehk1w1]

Cool, thanks for the help guys!