A high ankle sprain, also knowns as a syndesmotic ankle sprain (SAS) is somewhat different than what most people consider a “normal” sprained ankle. A high ankle sprain occurs ABOVE the ankle joint, when the lower leg and foot twist outward (external rotation). Only about 15% of all sprained ankles are considered high ankle sprains.
You can expect pain above the ankle, on the outside and front area of the lower leg and you should feel sharp pain if you twist outwardly (externally). One of the odd things about high ankle sprains is that the swelling is usually very minor. With a typical lateral ankle sprain, you will see A LOT of swelling, so be aware of that…
As always, we recommend getting an x-ray to rule out a fracture, because if you do have one, it is important to immobilize your ankle as soon as possible. If you do not have a fracture, but you are concerned about the injury, get an ultrasound or even an MRI to get more detailed imagery.
Should you Ice a High Ankle Sprain?
If you are looking to treat a high ankle sprain at home, we do NOT recommend R.I.C.E. (rest, ice compression, elevation). Even though it is a very common form of treatment, recent research confirms that rest and ice prolongs the injury and does NOT help the healing process. There are a lot of reasons for this and have a great article which gets into all the details… For more on that, please read our article: DO NOT USE ICE
Instead of rest and ice, we strongly recommend a natural, safe and effective rehab program to heal a high ankle sprain. It is the best treatment possible to heal your lower leg fully and quickly and research backs that up! You need to strengthen the ankle, stabilize it and heal all the damage from the injury. That requires a proactive approach, which includes effective rehabilitation techniques that have been proven to eliminate pain quickly and completely heal the injury.
Rehab Works
On Wikipedia, the gold standard for objective information, you will see that H.E.M. Ankle Rehab (our at home ankle rehab program) is included as a treatment option for high ankle sprains…
“An alternative measure consists of H.E.M. (Healthy blood flow, Eliminate swelling and Mobility). This treatment suggests increasing healthy blood flow to the ankle, including immune cells required for healing. The treatment also suggests improving healthy range of motion, stability and strength in the ankle to aid in a full recovery. Recent research suggests that macrophages (immune cells responsible for muscle repair and growth) are necessary for muscle to grow back to its pre-injured state.[9]
Remember, if you rely on rest and ice and try to wait for the ankle to heal itself, you will be setting yourself up for a long road to recovery and HIGH risk of re-injury. The foot, ankle and calf sustain a lot of damage which weakens the area and makes it inflexible and unstable. So, the key is to properly rehabilitate the whole lower leg to improve strength, stability and healthy range of motion.
As Wikipedia states:
Rehabilitation is important. A significant percentage of these sprains also involve medial and/or lateral ankle ligament injury and slow recovery and continuing symptoms are common.[1]
So, don’t wait… get started on a good rehab program as soon as possible to fully recover from a high ankle sprain. If you would like to learn more about our at home ankle rehab system, please click: HEM ANKLE REHAB
Secret of the Pros
Everything You Need To Heal At Home
So, Why Rehab?
Most people think rest and ice will heal their ankle (even a severe sprain), but they end up with chronic ankle instability… 30% still have pain one year later!
And that causes all kinds of muscle imbalances in the body, which can lead more serious injuries, repeated ankle sprains and chronic ankle pain. It’s a terrible domino effect that can last for life.
That’s Where Rehab Comes In.
A great rehab program significantly improves how a sprained ankle heals. It eliminates pain fast and ensures your ankles are strong and stable with healthy range of motion, which helps prevent future sprains.
Rehab Is The Key To
Healing Ankle Injuries Fast
Recent studies have shown that rehab heals ankle ligaments safely and effectively. It’s the difference between the people that don’t heal a sprained ankle and the ones that do!
Injured Ankle
Without Rehab
Injured Ankle
With Rehab
HEM Ankle Rehab “Rehabs” Your Ankle
HEM is a complete ankle rehab and prehab program for the entire ankle, foot and calf complex. This is a very thorough program that contains so much more than anything else you can find online, but it’s still easy to do.
Scott will coach you through every step, as if you are with him, one on one. Just follow along with the videos to rebuild your ankle from the ground up.
You can expect pain free mobility and strong, stable ankles that are protected from an ankle sprain, without ankle braces!
REAL PEOPLE, REAL RESULTS
-
Steven Kornfeld, CPT, PES, CES, FMS ,| -
Greg Shaible, DPT, Licensed Physical Therapist ,| -
Casey Moriarty, Owner, The Runner's Resource ,| -
Wayne Slappy, S.H.O.T.T.S. Basketball Academy ,|
From Scott Malin, NASM-CPT, CES
Creator, HEM Ankle Rehab
September 13, 2025
Fifteen years ago, I had to give up what I love doing most… playing basketball. I sprained my ankles so many times that I could no longer play. It was devastating.
Like you, I used R.I.C.E. (rest, ice elevation, compression), but my ankles healed so slowly and badly, they eventually got so weak, I would sprain them just walking down the street!
Being a fitness trainer, the only thing I had going for me was a fascination with helping people get out of pain and strengthening their bodies.
So, I decided to research all the cutting edge techniques to heal an ankle sprain much faster and better than R.I.C.E.
After months of research, I discovered that icing an injury can have a negative affect on the body’s healing process. Studies show that ice can actually slow down healing and too much rest left the ankles weak and unstable. This was shocking, but only part of the story…
New research was suggesting a much more proactive approach to healing that involved much better rehab techniques proven to dramatically speed up the speed and quality of the healing process.
Instead of months, healing took only days. And, if you had a chronically weak ankle that was in pain, these techniques would quickly strengthen and stabilize the ankles.
I kept improving on these techniques, drawing from many different disciplines and simplified them.
Eventually, after many more months of trial and error, I created a simple at-home healing system with very reliable results.
Since I was a fitness trainer, I was able to help all my clients (celebrities and athletes) whenever they got injured. I was even on the news a few times.
The response from my clients and friends was so overwhelming that a few of them eventually convinced me to share it with everyone.
Today, I am humbled that over 100,000 people have healed fully and fast with my program.
So, if you have any kind of ankle injury (new or old), just follow along with me in the videos and I’ll show you exactly what to do until you are completely pain free.
My message is simple… you do not have to give up what you love. And you do not have to live with chronic pain from old injuries. Life is too short and there is a better way!
I truly hope you will start using my program so you can get your life back and do what you love, pain free (and yes, I still play basketball every week and LOVE it!)
Thank you!
Scott
Heal Your Ankle FAST ⇣
30 day money back guarantee
15 YEARS. 100K HEALED.
Secret of the Pros
Everything You Need To Heal At Home
REAL PEOPLE,
REAL RESULTS
So, Why Rehab?
Most people think rest and ice will heal their ankle (even a severe sprain), but they end up with chronic ankle instability… 30% still have pain one year later!
And that causes all kinds of muscle imbalances in the body, which can lead more serious injuries, repeated ankle sprains and chronic ankle pain. It’s a terrible domino effect that can last for life.
That’s Where Rehab Comes In.
A great rehab program significantly improves how a sprained ankle heals. It eliminates pain fast and ensures your ankles are strong and stable with healthy range of motion, which helps prevent future sprains.
Rehab Is The Key To
Healing Ankle Injuries Fast
Recent studies have shown that rehab heals ankle ligaments safely and effectively. It’s the difference between the people that don’t heal a sprained ankle and the ones that do!
Injured Ankle
Without Rehab
Injured Ankle
With Rehab
HEM Ankle Rehab
“Rehabs” Your Ankle
HEM is a complete ankle rehab and prehab program for the entire ankle, foot and calf complex. This is a very thorough program that contains so much more than anything else you can find online, but it’s still easy to do.
Scott will coach you through every step, as if you are with him, one on one. Just follow along with the videos to rebuild your ankle from the ground up.
You can expect pain free mobility and strong, stable ankles that are protected from an ankle sprain, without ankle braces!
100,000 PEOPLE HEALED-
-
-
-
Steven Kornfeld,
CPT, PES, CES, FMS
,
|
-
-
-
-
-
Greg Shaible, DPT,
Licensed Physical Therapist
,
|
-
-
-
-
Wayne Slappy,
S.H.O.T.T.S. Basketball Academy
,
|
-
-
Casey Moriarty,
Owner, The Runner's Resource
,
|
-
-
-
-
Steven Kornfeld, CPT, PES, CES, FMS ,|
-
Greg Shaible, DPT, Licensed Physical Therapist ,|
-
Wayne Slappy, S.H.O.T.T.S. Basketball Academy ,|
-
Casey Moriarty, Owner, The Runner's Resource ,|
From Scott Malin, NASM-CPT, CES
Creator, HEM Ankle Rehab
September 13, 2025
Fifteen years ago, I had to give up what I love doing most… playing basketball. I sprained my ankles so many times that I could no longer play. It was devastating.
Like you, I used R.I.C.E. (rest, ice elevation, compression), but my ankles healed so slowly and badly, they eventually got so weak, I would sprain them just walking down the street!
Being a fitness trainer, the only thing I had going for me was a fascination with helping people get out of pain and strengthening their bodies.
So, I decided to research all the cutting edge techniques to heal an ankle sprain much faster and better than R.I.C.E.
After months of research, I discovered that icing an injury can have a negative affect on the body’s healing process. Studies show that ice can actually slow down healing and too much rest left the ankles weak and unstable. This was shocking, but only part of the story…
New research was suggesting a much more proactive approach to healing that involved much better rehab techniques proven to dramatically speed up the speed and quality of the healing process.
Instead of months, healing took only days. And, if you had a chronically weak ankle that was in pain, these techniques would quickly strengthen and stabilize the ankles.
I kept improving on these techniques, drawing from many different disciplines and simplified them.
Eventually, after many more months of trial and error, I created a simple at-home healing system with very reliable results.
Since I was a fitness trainer, I was able to help all my clients (celebrities and athletes) whenever they got injured. I was even on the news a few times.
The response from my clients and friends was so overwhelming that a few of them eventually convinced me to share it with everyone.
Today, I am humbled that over 100,000 people have healed fully and fast with my program.
So, if you have any kind of ankle injury (new or old), just follow along with me in the videos and I’ll show you exactly what to do until you are completely pain free.
My message is simple… you do not have to give up what you love. And you do not have to live with chronic pain from old injuries. Life is too short and there is a better way!
I truly hope you will start using my program so you can get your life back and do what you love, pain free (and yes, I still play basketball every week and LOVE it!)
Thank you!
Scott
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