This is a question we hear a lot… especially with athletes. Should you tape a sprained ankle to protect it from injury? This falls into a similar category as ankle braces. In general, our answer is no, we do not like the use of tape for an ankle. Taping an ankle is actually much more inhibitive then a an ankle brace, because it is wrapped to much tighter around the ankle. Taping a weak or sprained ankle so you can protect yourself and continue to play your sport is a very dangerous idea. And here’s why…
Listen, your ankle is supposed to be very flexible. It is one of your most mobile joints. Go ahead and wiggle your foot around in all directions and observe how mobile the ankle is supposed to be. If you tape your ankle, you take away all that flexibility and mobility. When you try to move laterally (side to side), your ankle will be protected from another sprain, but your knee will be at a high risk for an ACL tear.
Why? The knee is a stable joint and the ligaments in the knee cannot move very far without tearing. If the ankle is all taped up and your body cannot get the lateral mobility from the ankle, it will move up to the next joint (the knee) and get it there. Unfortunately, since the knee is not mobile, it will simply move outside it’s natural and safe range of motion and one of the ligaments can easily tear. Now, we don’t have to tell you how much more serious an ACL tear is in the knee. you are talking about surgery and possibly up to a year of recovery time. And even then, you may never be the same athlete again.
Plus, let’s not forget that taping your ankle makes you slower and your ankles much weaker over time. All the little stabilizer muscles you need in your ankle atrophy. On top of all that, if you had a sprained ankle, taping it will really help ensure it never heals fully or properly. So, instead of tape, we strongly recommend taking a week or two and properly rehabilitating your ankle with a solid rehab program.
The idea is to heal the ankle fully and make it much more strong and mobile so it actually feels like you have an ankle brace on, except it’s your muscles, not tape or a brace. And, you will not only have more protection, but more range of motion, which will help protect you from getting future ankle sprains.
