How to Perform a Cross-Legged Ankle Test

While our feet carry the load of our weight every day, our ankles are where the real stress of movement often shows up and creates problems. A sprained ankle can be very painful and debilitating. Stay off a bad sprain to allow it time to heal. There is a simple test you can do to tell if your ankle is ready to support your weight again.

Instructions

• 1

  Sit on the floor, preferably on a mat or thick carpet. Pull up your knees as far as you can. Lay one ankle on top of the opposite leg. Pull the other ankle on top of the bent leg. This stretches the tendons and tells you how healed your sprain is without having to stand and put pressure on it too soon.

• 2

  Try this test when the swelling has gone down and you can slide onto the floor without putting pressure on the sprain. If the sprained ankle is too painful to move onto the top of the opposite leg, then you are not ready to walk on it yet.

• 3

  Stay in the cross-legged position for at least 10 minutes. Avoid losing feeling in either leg, because it is still not healed enough to jump up and down to restore the blood flow.

• 4

  Stretch your leg slowly out of the cross-legged position and rest it. Switch sides, and perform the test beginning with the opposite ankle first. A healed ankle should move in both positions.