Womens Basketball Shoes

One of the most common injuries amongst all basketball players is the sprained ankle.  Since basketball players are constantly on the move running and jumping, it is no surprise that ankle sprains happen as often as they do.  If you have played basketball for a good portion of your life, you too probably know how painful and how nagging these injuries can be.

Generally speaking, there are three different levels of ankle sprains.  Each level should be treated and cared for the same way, but the most severe sprains will take much longer to heal.

Grade 1 sprains generally are the result of a mild sprain where maybe some stretching of the ligaments takes place.  Usually these types of sprains won’t limit you from doing much outside of your normal activities and you may or may not need to use crutches to assist you after the first day or two.  Grade 1 sprains usually have a little swelling and are stiff for a few weeks after the injury occurs.

A grade 2 sprain is a sprain in which your ligament has some damage or tear.  These are much more painful than the grade 1’s and will require you to use crutches to get around for at least a week.  Any weight that you do put on it is going to be painful and walking after a week will still be somewhat difficult.  You will also notice some bruising of the foot and ankle after a grade 2 sprain.

A grade 3 sprain is the worst sprain you can have and is a total rupture of the ligament.  These sprains won’t allow you to put any pressure on them without experiencing severe pain and you will be on crutches for at least a few weeks until you can tolerate some pain and rehabiliate to your ankle to hold your weight.  Grade 3 sprains swell up very bad almost instantly after the incident and will bruise up the entire foot and ankle.

Treatment of all ankle sprains use a method known as RICE.  RICE stands for Rest, Ice, Compress, and Elevate.  The RICE method is used to reduce the swelling but the more severe ankle sprains will require plenty of rehab and strength training to get the full use of the ankle back to normal.

You can prevent some ankle injuries by using ankle braces and using a high-top basketball shoe every time you play.  If you have weak ankles and want to find the best choice of shoes and ankle braces to use, be sure to ask your doctor for professional advice.