Active ankle eversion means turning the soles of your feet out, away from each other, with your own muscles rather than a hand or strap moving them. You sit with both legs straight and turn both feet out at the same time, keeping the knees still. It is often one of the first movements given once an injured ankle is out of a cast or boot, or when it has stiffened up after a sprain.

How to do the active ankle eversion

Sit on a bed, a firm couch or the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. Keep your back upright and rest your hands on your thighs or on the surface beside you.
Let your feet relax with your toes pointing up and a small gap between them.
Turn the soles of both feet outward, away from each other, so the little-toe edge of each foot lifts a little.
Hold for a moment at the end of the comfortable range, then bring the feet back to the middle.
Keep your knees and hips still the whole time, so the movement stays in the ankles.

What you should feel

Gentle work along the outside of the lower leg, and sometimes a mild stretch on the inner side of the ankle. It is a small movement, so do not expect to see much.

Common mistakes

Letting the legs roll outward from the hips. Your kneecaps should keep facing the ceiling.
Trying to force a bigger range. Eversion is naturally a smaller movement than turning the foot in.
Moving quickly and bouncing at the end of the range.

How often

A common starting point is 10 to 15 slow repetitions, 2 or 3 times a day. Your physio will adjust this.

Stop and check with your physio if

Sharp pain on the outside of the ankle or just behind the outer ankle bone, or pain that grows with each repetition.
Your calf or thigh is getting more swollen, or becomes warm, tender, red or darker than usual, or has a new throbbing or cramping pain. This can be a blood clot, especially after an operation, an injury, time in a cast, boot or brace, or a spell of being much less mobile than usual, and after an operation it can also be an infection. Stop and contact your medical team or get medical advice the same day. If you are also short of breath or have chest pain, call emergency services.
You suddenly become short of breath, get chest pain or pain in your upper back that may be worse when you breathe in, cough up blood, your heart beats very fast, or you faint. Call emergency services straight away, even if your leg looks normal, as this can be a blood clot in the lungs (pulmonary embolism).
A snapping or slipping feeling behind the bony bump on the outside of the ankle as the foot turns out. Stop and have it checked.
More swelling around the ankle after the session that has not settled by the next day. Tell your physio before you continue.
Emergency: while you are in a cast or boot, your toes turn blue, white or pale, or feel cold. Do not wait to see if raising your leg helps. Go to an emergency department straight away, and do not drive yourself. The cast or boot may be cutting off the blood supply, or pressure may be building up inside the leg (compartment syndrome), and both need checking quickly.
In a cast or boot, the pain gets worse, your toes feel numb, tingle or burn or look more swollen, or the cast or boot feels too tight. Stop, raise your foot above your hip, keep moving your toes and contact your fracture clinic or get medical advice straight away. If you wear a boot, loosen the straps but keep it on. If you cannot move your toes, the pain is severe even after painkillers, or the numbness, tingling, burning or swelling has not settled within 30 minutes of raising your foot, go to your fracture clinic or an emergency department straight away, and do not drive yourself.
Since the fracture or cast, the foot or ankle is getting more painful rather than less, the skin becomes very sensitive to light touch, or the foot changes color, temperature, swelling or sweating compared with the other one, or looks shiny. See your doctor or physio as soon as you can, within a few days at most, as this can be complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and early treatment may help.

From the clinic

The muscles on the outside of your lower leg (peroneals) turn the foot out, and they also help steady the ankle when you stand on uneven ground. This version only moves the ankle through its range. When your physio wants those muscles to work harder, the usual next steps are isometric ankle eversion against a ball and then ankle eversion with a band. Active ankle inversion uses the same setup and turns the feet the other way.

After an ankle fracture or ankle surgery, follow your surgeon's or physio's plan, and start this exercise only when they have cleared you. After surgery on the tendons at the outside of the ankle, turning the foot out is often limited for a while. Some repairs of the ligaments on that side limit it too, so check which movements are allowed at your stage.

Written and checked by the PocketPhysio editorial team. Last updated 2026-09-26.

This page is general education, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment plan. If you have pain, an injury or a health condition, see a physiotherapist or doctor before starting new exercises.

Active ankle eversion