Should I Wear an Ankle Brace to Bed or Overnight?
By  In ankle sprain treatment, using an ankle brace is common for three different grade symptoms (Mild sprain, Moderate sprain, Severe sprain). It supports the ankle joint by dint of stabilization, compression, and warmth. By preventing further injury or damage, it will help to improve your exercise performance. Before writing this article, we saw most people get confused and search for answers on many social sites. Then we talk with doctors, physiotherapists, and professional athletes who experienced most of the ankle injuries. We try to note down the accurate information whether it is good to wear an ankle brace to bed or overnight. After examining their advice, here below we present vivid information for your kindness. How Does an Ankle Brace Work  The primary objective of an ankle brace is to give the protection required to the ankle joints and ligaments for a bunch of reasons. It depends on minor pain to post-surgical rehabilitation. Besides, the compressive force that is generated by wearing ankle brace support stabilizers to reduce swelling. By maintaining inflammation and adequate blood flow on the affected area, it controls the range of motion. In addition, it allows improving the structural support during exercise performance or in heavy activities like running and playing. Athletes wear ankle braces on vital muscles to decrease the risk of ligament injury. It can be an excellent alternative for muscle taps because it comes with much more durability. However, purchasing the right ankle brace to fulfill adequate purposes is a challenging task. Best Ankle Brace Buying Guide can help you to choose the suitable mount for you. Ankle injury is a common type of sports injury. However, foot and ankle joints seem more complex than any other joints in human health because there are multiple bones connected. Therefore, in the case of feet injury, it cant be said the actual time how long you should wear an ankle brace. It depends on the treatment plan and condition of your sprains. Besides, it depends on your level of injury. Generally, for a mid-level injury, you need to wear an ankle brace for ten days to six weeks, and as we said earlier, totally depends on the severity of your fracture and injury. You should continue wearing an ankle brace if you feel swelling, instability, and pain in your ankle. You can also use it over your shoes. Wearing an ankle brace during exercise and heavy activities is also preferable. When you wear an ankle brace for the entire exercise session, it supports your ankle to do more load off your body. Expert athletes suggest wearing an ankle brace for the first time for one to two hours. Add one hour per day to adjust the comfort and stability. It will help the brace when you wear it for a full day during exercise. People who have an injury with their ankle sprains are suggested to wear an ankle brace for a long time, even for the whole day. They just need to lose the straps when they attach to the foot. According to experts who have immense experience about the different grades of an ankle injury and sprained ankle, suggest wearing it to bed or overnight. But they recommend losing the belt for not heating the defective area. Because wearing an ankle brace in tight mode sometimes causes swelling. Hereinbelow, we have listed three reasons why you should wear an ankle brace to bed or overnight, according to physiotherapists and doctors opinions. 1. To Limit Ankle Movement  One of the essential things which an ankle brace does is to limit the range of motion. By controlling the range of motion, an ankle brace allows ligaments and tendons are fractured to not be over injured. When you are in bed, it seems there is no weight on your foot. The position of the foot can cause more severe damage to the ankle. When you lay down in the bed, you can kick on your fractured leg or hit on the footboard and can kick on the wall unwillinglywearing an ankle brace while sleeping can save your legs from those situations. This is the great benefit of wearing an ankle brace overnight to prevent such kind of accidental damage. 2. To decrease swelling  It is common to swell the affected area during an ankle sprain. Because of the inflammation in the surrounding tissue, this sometimes happens. This swelling pain may reach an extreme level. In that case, an ankle brace can help to reduce the amount of swelling and possible pain. The kind of compression of the ankle brace will help to move away swelling from the injured area. The elevation is the best method to decrease the swelling. However, it is agonizing to regulate elevation from our feet when we sleep because we frequently move during sleep. Wearing a brace overnight can improve the condition. 3. To stop accidental damage  Without wearing an ankle brace at night, you can experience more damage in the morning when you try to walk. You may fall due to your sprain injury. Wearing an ankle brace also gives you support when you wake up at midnight to go to the bathroom. It will decrease the possibility of further injury or ankle fracture. By reducing the accidental damage, the ankle brace helps to heal your fracture suitably. Wearing an ankle brace for long, like an overnight session, your injury may recover before the time frame. When any accidental damage occurs, an ankle brace will protect your feet from serious injury. Suggestion for sleeping with an ankle brace  There are many opinions available on wearing an ankle brace during sleep. Many experts say it is beneficial for the fractured area when other people think it creates an obstacle to attaching the joint in its original shape by creating compression. But according to our research, we found its benefits and advantages more than its disadvantages. But when you wear an ankle brace for a long time, you should follow some tips or suggestions given by physiotherapists. Here in this section, we listed those suggestions. I hope you will keep that suggestion while using an ankle brace at night. Check you are wearing a properly adjustable and fitted ankle brace. Before buying your ankle brace, you should measure your splint. Many people make this mistake by buying their ankle brace depending on their foot size. But there are huge differences between wearing an ankle brace depending on foot and splint. Choose an ankle brace to bed that has a compression clip to ensure the highest support and comfort. Go to sleep in the coolest room you can tolerate, and your ankle brace does not become warm and uncomfortable. Use a pillow near the foot. This pillow allows you to lift your injured foot and ankle brace. This elevation will reduce further swelling and may reduce some of the discomforts. Use a soft pillow instead of using a rigid shape pillow. Never tighten the straps of your ankle brace so that they interfere with your blood circulation. Wear your ankle brace so that you can put one or two fingers after tightening the straps. The effect of wearing an ankle brace depends on what purposes you use it for. If you use an ankle brace for a sprain injury, it is okay to use it for a long time. But when you use an ankle brace to boost your performance like running and activities, wearing it for a good long time is terrible sometimes. One study found that running and broad jump by wearing a knee brace or ankle brace has terrible impacts on ligaments. When you wear compression socks for balance exercise, your ankle sprain affects you significantly. Here we listed some adverse effects of wearing a brace to bed or all day long. By reading this section, you may be sincere in using it further. Wearing a brace limits normal movement and causes uncomfortableness sometimes. Sometimes a brace tonight makes one leg warm and responsible for swelling. Due to discomfort, the patient may lose sleep in some cases. Conclusion  Wearing an ankle brace not only gives you balance exercise but also gives a comfortable position for a fractured ankle. Most medical professionals suggest using a brace for sprained ankle because of its effectiveness and supporting module. It works for strained, broken, or repaired as a healing process. We are at the end of our discussion. Here above, we have tried to give you an overall suggestion of the ankle brace and wearing a brace at night and also about brace to bed. I hope you will find this piece of writing beneficial for you. Thanks for sticking with us.