Physiotherapists commonly see patients attending physiotherapy for ankle sprains. While there is commonly swelling and pain there is also a lack of mobility in the ankle joints.
Manual physiotherapists have known for a long time that early manual therapy (including joint manipulation and mobilization) in conjunction with exercise and modalities allows people to resume activities or sports earlier and with less difficulty.
This 2009 research study confirms the benefit of manual therapy. See the Research here in the Journal of Orthopaedic Sports Physical Therapy:http://www.jospt.org/issues/articleID.2257,type.2/article_detail.asp
The authors found that those that benefited most from manual therapy reported they felt worse with standing and squatting, had signs of increased foot flattening and had a lack of ankle joint mobility. The authors found that manual therapy combined with exercise allowed for quicker recovery, compared to exercise alone.
So if you sprain your ankle seek out treatment early on. The treatment should include manual therapy.