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With high school football season entering its mid and latter stages, volleyball season in full swing, and basketball beginning, severe ankle injuries are undoubtedly on the rise. The worst can sideline your teen for a couple months. Most will put them out of action for at least a couple weeks.

In many cases, you simply can’t avoid the injury. All sports have their risks.

So if your son or daughter finds themselves on the wrong end of a severe ankle injury, here’s what they can do to speed up their recovery time:

Begin Rehab Exercises Soon After Your Injury

Try to walk or put weight on your foot. Don’t force yourself to go beyond your limits. Pushing yourself too hard could actually result in you reinjuring your ankle or even a more severe injury. Walk and put as much weight as you can on your foot without severe discomfort. Use your crutches to help you if it still causes pain.

While you have ice on your ankle, work on increasing your range of motion by tracing the entire alphabet with your toe. This gives you increased motion in all directions.

Slowly Return to Activity

As you regain confidence in your ankle, you can slowly return to the movements required by your sport. You can’t go full-speed immediately.

However, you can increase the weight you bear, the distance you go, and the speed you use. Some discomfort is okay. But if you’re in severe discomfort performing the movements, you’re pushing yourself too hard. Reduce your intensity slightly.

Use Prevention Exercises to Reduce Your Future Chance of Injury

With your body, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. NBA all-stars do many exercises to prevent injury to their ankles.

You can do these simple ones to reduce future risk of injury to either of your ankles:

• Single-leg calf raise – With this exercise, you simply go from flat-footed to your tip-toe on one leg. Keep your other leg on the ground to help with balance. Take 1 second to raise your other leg up. Then slowly take 5 seconds to return your heel to the ground. Consider using a squatting machine at the gym to apply weight so you can increase your ankle’s strength.
• Single-leg ladder drills – Use a speed ladder to make this one work for you. It’s a common piece of equipment you can easily get anywhere online. Hop forwards, sideways, and backwards on one leg. Make sure you exercise both legs.
• Plate raise – This strengthens the muscles of the front of your shins, which also helps you stabilize your ankles. Put a 10-pound weight plate over your toes while you stand. Raise the plate with your toes in 1 second, and then take 5 seconds to drop it down. Increase the weight as you can.

If you follow those steps, not only will you have a fast recovery from your ankle injury, but you’ll also greatly reduce your future risk of a repeat one. And, these exercises work for teens and adults alike.