Getting Your Balance Back After Fracturing a Foot or Ankle Bone

After breaking a bone on your foot or ankle, you often spend a considerable amount of time resting up while waiting for your bones to heal. Not only does that result in some weaker muscles in your legs from lack of use, but you can often lose some confidence while spending time out of action. If it's time for you to get back on your feet, it's important to work on your balance so that you can feel and move more confidently.

Stand like a stork

A simple exercise you can do at home involves standing on one foot perpendicular to a wall. You can start with one hand on the wall, then move to one finger, and finally practice letting go of the wall for a second or two at a time. As you get more confident, you can increase this time to a longer and longer period and try balancing with your eyes closed.

Walk the line

The old sobriety test of walking the line is also a good way to practice balance, particularly for situations where you need to keep your gaze ahead rather than at the ground. Walk twenty steps in a line with your toe of one foot touching the heel of the other foot with each step. Keep your arms outstretched to add some extra challenge--and when you are feeling confident try resting one finger on your nose while walking.

Tip toe balance

Try standing with both heels off the ground, with a chair nearby that you can grab if you find you lose balance. Raise up onto your tip toes. As you get more confident you can try squatting and raising up to strengthening your muscles through your ankles, knees and hips. Stronger muscles in these areas can help with overall balance.

Leg lifts

If you are laying down you should also trying increasing strength in your hips by doing dead leg raises, from either a position on your back or side. Keeping your leg straight will increase the load and help to strengthen the muscles around your hip which can get weaker during not being used.

It can often help to visit a physiotherapist who can guide you through these and other exercises to help you regain strength and confidence. They can check your form during these exercises to make sure you are doing them correctly, as well as guiding you through other stretches to gain balance.