Short Term Rehabilitation and Ankle Instability

Abstract

Chronic ankle instability (CAI) after ankle sprains has been shown to cause foot and ankle disability. Although rehabilitation programs for patients with CAI have been performed in related studies, few researchers have studied overall performance including pain, balance, and isokinetic torque. The purpose of this study was to determine if a short-term rehabilitation program that addressed range of motion (ROM), functional muscular performance, and neuromuscular control, can improve the foot/ankle disability index (FADI), FADI-Sport, ROM, star excursion balance test (SEBT), and isokinetic torque for patients with CAI. Prior to the experiment, we investigated the principal injury site through an administered questionnaire on 236 potential participants, and selected 18 male subjects aged between 21 and 23 years. 9 subjects (rehabilitation group, RG) with unilateral CAI took part in the rehabilitation program for 4 weeks, whereas 9 subjects (control group, CG) did not participate in that program. The results were as follows; the RG significantly increased FADI, FADI-Sport scores, and ROM on the injured limb compared with the CG. Also, the RG had greater SEBT reaches and improvements in isokinetic torque compared with the CG. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that a short-term rehabilitation program can improve functional limitations in patients with CAI.

Therapeutic interventions for improving self-reported function in patients with chronic ankle instability: a systematic review

“…Five articles51 68 72 74 75 included in this category examined the effects of a multimodal rehabilitation intervention for improving self-reported function during activities of daily living and physical activity, while one study only assessed activities of daily living 73. There were five articles identified as randomised control clinical trials,51 68 73–75 and one case–control study 72. The risk of bias of these studies had an average of 18.3 with a range of 15–2372 73 on the Downs and Black Checklist (table 1).…”

Altered Vertical Ground Reaction Forces in Participants With Chronic Ankle Instability While Running

“…10 In addition, short-term rehabilitation programs improved function and gait in individuals with CAI. 30 Given the connection between decreasing loading rates and peak forces in reducing the risk of other lower extremity injuries, returning to their normative mechanics should be considered a rehabilitative goal for those with CAI. Future researchers should consider which rehabilitative techniques would provide the best outcomes for decreasing peak forces and loading rates in these individuals.…”

“…The physical activity baseline and running speed used in this study have been used previously in other running studies. 30 Finally, not matching limb dominance between groups and the reporting of vGRF in only 1 limb may have left out information that could be used to further investigate the differences between groups.…”

Reducing the frequency of wearing high-heeled shoes and increasing ankle strength can prevent ankle injury in women

“…More specifically, increased DF/PF ratios and decreased EV/IV ratios at isokinetic 60°/s were reported in subjects with chronic ankle instability and weakened isokinetic ankle strength including the IV, EV and PF (6,7). Prolonged wearing of high heels apparently alters those ratios over subsequent class years by weakening certain ankle muscles which eventually compromises dynamic balance.…”

“…Contradictory to intuition however, less than 5% of men report embarrassment as a reason for not wanting to talk about sexual problems (6). General practitioners and primary care nurses report time pressures, lack of training and expertise, as well as concerns about the use of appropriate language as barriers to proactive engagement with patients in relation to sexual health issues (7). It has been recommended that men presenting in primary care with cardiovascular disease should be asked about erectile dysfunction (8).…”