4 weeks ago I sprained my ankle pretty seriously. I'm walking normally again however I still have a little pain and the ankle is still a little swollen. If I'm sitting for a while it stiffens up but then after a few steps is fine. Has anyone had this type of injury that could give me some advice for exercising?

Because my ankle is so weak from limited use the past month I can't do any type of classes like aerobics, I'm not sure about yoga since I've never done it and don't know what it would require of my ankle (but it seems there is a lot of balancing that my ankle wouldn't be able to handle yet). The treadmill is out for now and there is no pool so I guess I'm just stuck with the recumbent bike and the elliptical machine? Does anyone have any suggestions?

Ouch >< !

I broke my ankle a few years ago and when I was out of my cast, all I could do was walking and pilates, because that's mainly lying down. Weird as it may sound, I also found just walking up the stairs a few times a day helped to strengthen my ankle.

So I guess the main type of exercise is... walk. Your ankle won't take long to get back to full strength. Rotate it every day even if it hurts like crazy and do practice standing on one leg for as long as you can bear. It'll help get everything toughened up again.

I sprained my ankle pretty seriously recently too. I was on crutches for about two weeks. During that time I did upper body workouts. After I felt like it was okay I started building back up to my walking. It's been 7 weeks now and that ankle is still puffier and a bit swollen looking, but it no longer hurts to walk on it. I've started running 1/2 a mile each day now and so far so good. Once in a while it hurts (usually when it rains...weird) but it's doing pretty well.

Thanks for the advice! Maybe I'm just babying it too much? I really don't know and honestly the doctor couldn't really answer my questions. He basically said if it hurts too much then don't do it but what constitutes "too much?" And if I never use it and am always trying to stay off it will it take longer to heal? I dunno.

I walk a lot as it is, I work in a lab and it keeps me on my feet for a better part of the day (I've been wearing a pedometer and averaging around 12,000 steps). I wasn't sure if the walking was aggravating my ankle and I should try to stay off it more when exercising but maybe I'll go ahead and do the treadmill tomorrow and see how it feels.

When you're sitting at your desk or watching TV, do some ankle rotations one way then the other so as not to let it stiffen... Did you get some physio therapy? If it persists you really should see a professional...