Sore ankle help?

Ankle problems please help?

• I play soccer and first hurt my ankle freshmen year. I stepped in a hole and my ankle swelled up quite a bit. I didn't want to get it checked out becaue I didn't want to have to miss any soccer, but I did sit out, ice, and take care of it. Ever since then I've gotten pretty serious ankle injuries every year, but I usually just ice it A LOT and it is fine. This has gone on for four years, but this year was my senior year so although my ankle swelled and hurt I hid it from my mom and iced it at night. My season ended a couple of weeks ago. Even though I have been off my ankle for two weeks it is still sore. However, it is no longer swollen. My question is do you know what could be wrong and should I get it checked out? I want to play soccer in college so I can't afford to take too much time off. Please help.

• Answer:

  I would suspect you have some damage and accompanying weakness going on. If you could go to a physical therapist or possibly a sports trainer, they'd probably be able to take a look at it and maybe recommend a course of action. I would suspect some exercises targeted to make it stronger would be in order at the least, but you might need some other therapy as well.