Best Ankle Braces for After Sprain Injury – 2024 Edition

Ankle braces have been around since the 1990s, and this is when they started to gain popularity, thanks to the improved design and budget-friendliness, at least when compared with kinesiology tapes.

These days you can find all sorts of ankle braces, even brands that make sport-specific braces. No matter what they look like and who made them, the main purpose of braces is to prevent injuries and help them heal faster.

More and more people are starting to use braces for sprained ankle to heal injuries, and specialists have started recommending them as well, so you can't go wrong in using braces to help you heal. If you're in high school or still have developing bones and tissues, an ankle brace can act as support to those stretchy structures and keep your ankles in check.

Your ankles are made out of ligaments, tendons, bones, and muscles, which all work together to keep you moving. These structures then synchronize with your knees and hips and every piece of tissue that surrounds them, which is why a sprained ankle can sometimes cause your whole leg to hurt, and why it's important to take good care of them.

Ankle braces limit the movement of your ankles, more or less, and keep them safe from inversion and eversions, while providing you with spatial awareness. If you want maximum performance out of them, wear them inside shoes while you go about your day to stay safe all day long. If you still feel pain after wearing a brace to heal, it's likely that you didn't use it long enough or that you might need rehab.

Your ankles won't be the same after an injury, and you will need to help them feel better with therapeutical exercises and rest, so make sure you follow through and you won't have any issues with your ankles after that!

If you ever had to wear a brace before, you probably already know just how good they are, but if you never saw them before, you might wonder just how a brace can fix your injury. Different brace styles give different results, and you will first need to select the right model, but more on that later.

You will need to wear the brace for six weeks, more or less, in order to let your ankle heal up completely. This is a very important step, and if you fail to do this you might think that braces are not effective, which is not the reality. You have to have the brace on as long as there are symptoms of an injury present, so if you see swelling, pain, or redness, you will still have to wear the brace.

Braces work like compression socks do, with some added benefits of the extra support. Braces will promote more healing to your ankles, thus giving your injuries more fresh blood to draw oxygen and other nutrients from, which in turn speed up recovery. If you have a minor injury, you won't need to wear extra supportive braces.

Depending on how you hurt your ankle, the brace will need to support your whole ankle or just one side at a time, or you might need braces that have rigid frames that do the job injured ligaments and tendons cannot, helping them heal faster.

The material choice affects breathability, fit, support, durability, compression, and many more factors that all play a role in your healing process. Ankle braces that have low to almost no air permeability will not be helpful, because they will promote sweating and bad odors, and you might want to stop wearing them which is a bad idea if you're injured. The brace will not fit you well, nor will it compress your injury at all. And lastly, the brace won't be able to withstand constant wear and tear damage and it might fail you before you're healthy, and that is the last thing you need!

Most of the time, ankle braces are made out of nylon, spandex, polyester or neoprene, although more material choices can be seen. These materials are usually mixed together in ways unique to every brand, and they all claim that their blend is the best. We can't certainly know which one truly is the best, but we can tell you what you need to look out for.

First, remember that every material we mentioned here is synthetic, or man-made, and they are all derived from plastic, in one way or another. This does not make them inherently bad, and do not be afraid to wear it around your ankles!

Plastic can be manipulated in many ways, and you can see that by noticing how different these materials act even though their source is the same. Nylon is light and stretchy, but not so durable, which is why it needs the help of polyester or spandex. Spandex is extremely stretchy and compressive, and it's the one that provides you with lightweight support. Neoprene is firm and supportive, and very durable, but it does not breathe all that well, so it can't work great alone. This is why you must always look for a good material blend.

Some braces have plastic or even metal elements. These hardcore braces are made to help you with moderate and severe injuries. These materials will make the braces heavier, but you won't exactly need to jump and run while having them on so don't worry about that!

The level of support can vary, but you won't find an ankle brace out there that is not supportive in any way. You must remember to make the right brace choice when it comes to the support you may eventually need. Braces can allow you to move just as well as when you don't have them o, or they can completely stop your ankles from moving, which is exactly what you need when you're injured in order to let your ankles heal up nicely.

The material choice determines how supportive the brace is, before everything else. Spandex braces, the ones that look like compressive socks, are made for sports and are just what you need if you crave that little bit of extra support and love that keeps you safe from hurt.

Hinged braces are also great for sports, but they do give you more support than ankle sleeves. If the brace for sprained ankle has any extra closure systems, like lace-up braces, figure 8 wraps or frames, expect to feel moderate to extreme levels of support, nearing immobilization. These braces are just what you need to help your injured ankles heal faster and better.

You can change the level of support and compression these braces provide you with because the laces and wraps can be easily adjusted to your liking. So the better your ankles feel, the less support you will need, and you will simply readjust the closure system to change it, no need to buy all new braces!

This is necessary because one brace style cannot give the same benefits to injured people and people looking for ways to prevent injuries. Every brace model has its own set of pros and cons, like the amount of support they can provide you with, the fit, the size, and much more. You will need braces made for injuries, and luckily the market is filled with braces made to speed healing up.

These braces either have wrap-up straps, following the shape of the number 8, or they have laces and various cushions that keep your foot secure and in place. You won't help your ankles heal with braces that have no means of supporting you, so look for models that immobilize the ankles to some degree.

Braces that have plastic and metal frames are the best for serious injuries. The frame will replace your tendons and ligaments, allowing them to take a break. you will not need these braces if you're not really hurt though because these elements can dig into the hurt tissue and cause more pain than not.

If you're hurt but want to play sports, go for hinged braces, after your ankle is healed up of course. Hinged braces keep the stretched out tissues in place while giving you all the freedom of movement you may need when playing sports. Your recovery will depend on the brace model, so make sure you've chosen the right one for your needs!