The Effect of Focal Ankle Cooling on Spinal Reflex Activity in Individuals with Chronic Ankle Instability

Effects of Joint Cryotherapy on Muscle Function

“…This change, in turn, could lead to more neural drive to the neuromuscular junction, which can explain increased MVIC following joint cooling. Subsequent studies reported similar findings of facilitated motor neuron activation in ankle muscles [12,[18][19][20][21][22].…”

“…The ankle cryotherapy consisted of one 1.5 L bag of crushed ice secured to the anterior aspect of the ankle joint with an elastic bandage for 30 minutes. The soleus motor neuron activation was facilitated following the treatment in both healthy and CAI groups, but there was no group difference, indicating no additional facilitating effects [19]. The same group also reported a lack of change in other outcomes such as motor neuron activations of the peroneus longus and tibialis anterior, and concentric inversion and eversion torques [20].…”

“…Numerous studies have assessed muscle activation and strength following joint cryotherapy in various joint conditions, including healthy, artificially effused, and pathological joints [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. A majority of studies reported immediate facilitation in muscles that act on the cooled joint.…”

“…In addition to knee cryotherapy, ankle cryotherapy has been examined in patients with chronic ankle instability (CAI). In two investigations, Doeringer et al [19,20] assessed the effects of focal ankle joint cooling on motor neuron activation of lower leg muscles, including the soleus, peroneus longus, and tibialis anterior in individuals with and without CAI. The ankle cryotherapy consisted of one 1.5 L bag of crushed ice secured to the anterior aspect of the ankle joint with an elastic bandage for 30 minutes.…”

Changes in Spinal and Corticospinal Excitability in Patients with Chronic Ankle Instability: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis

“…Collectively, the alterations in neural excitability at both spinal and supra-spinal levels suggest that neuroplastic adaptations appear to exist and may contribute to the sensorimotor dysfunction commonly seen in patients with CAI [37]. It is noted, however, that some studies [32,38,39,40] failed to identify neural changes in CAI patients. These conflicting results across individual studies may be due to small sample sizes, which raises the need for a synthesis of the data to provide conclusive evidence.…”