THIS question came in via email from a reader: “Paul, any tips for recovering from an ankle sprain quickly? I’m a middle-distance runner and couldn’t resist the temptation to get out and do my usual route despite the ice on the ground. The ice unfortunately, got the better of me. Any tips would be greatly appreciated." Erica, Darlington. 37

SO here’s the thing with ankle sprains. First, they are much more common in winter – and especially when it’s icy.

Why? Well, it exposes how good your reactions are and specifically, your balance.

What most road runners don’t realise is that if all they ever do is run on the road, then their balance is likely to be very poor. Now I’m not saying that they can’t stay on their feet as such. What I am saying is that they will suffer more from things like ankle sprains simply because their running habit predisposes them to it.

Let me explain why. Running on the same flat surfaces effectively nullifies your body’s reflexes. Not completely, but it certainly lowers them because your body is pounding the same stable surface every night, and in doing so it eventually conditions itself to realising that there’s unlikely to be any need to remain alert, because you’re always running on a flat surface. And your brain is always looking for ways to do less work.

That includes switching off a few balance receptors when it realises you’re running on the same path again. It thinks, ‘you were okay last night, you’ll be okay again tonight – keep going, I’ll have a rest!’ But when the ice appears and your brain switches back on to the danger you face, unfortunately the balance receptors in your ankle ligaments don’t always want to play ball! Not as quickly as you need them to, anyway.

Receptors in your ligaments work at lightning fast speed to send messages to the brain to help you as you’re almost about to fall over. If they don’t get there in time, you can’t possibly move your body position in time to stop the fall from taking place. The result? An ankle sprain, or worse.

The trick is this: Vary the surface that you run on. Even if it’s just adding a little bit of grass, mud or sand to your usual route. It will force your brain into thinking that it always has to stay alert because it doesn’t know what’s coming next.

Your receptors are also more alert and if you do all of a sudden take a little fall, you’re in a much better position to limit the damage.

It’s not a fool proof plan, but it’s the best way to do it. Better that than an ankle sprain which could leave you out for anything up to four weeks and even more likely to sufferer a recurrence in the future.

It also increases the likelihood of suffering an Achilles tendon injury, too. If you do suffer an ankle sprain, ice for the first seven days, gentle stretching and walking early on and then begin to strengthen the ligament again over the next couple of weeks.

The goal is to safely get the ankle joint and Achilles tendon moving again as fast as possible.

To be sure, talk to a physio, who will guide you through the next few weeks or look here to get a free report on ways to get back from common sports injuries quickly, www.paulgoughphysio.com/sports-injury-clinic