Chiropractic Aids Sprained Ankle Recovery

​We see a number of patients in our Silverdale office with ankle sprains but Dr. Findlay has had a lot of success helping them recover more quickly. Why are ankle sprains so common and how can chiropractic help?

According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), approximately 25,000 men and women in the US sprain their ankles daily. In fact, these injuries make up almost half of all sports injuries, causing people to spend time away from the activities they enjoy most.

Like most any injury, there are many causes of ankle sprains. The most frequent is inversion, or when the ankle rolls inward. This injury can occur due to one forceful movement, or it can develop over time, and exercises that increase the risk for this type of ankle sprain include running and jumping. You're also at risk if you have past ankle injuries, poor posture or balance, weak muscles, and reduced range of motion. How can Dr. Findlay help?

A report published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics set out to determine chiropractic's role when it comes to ankle sprain recovery. The authors enrolled 33 individuals between the ages of 18 and 45 who had a history of ankle inversion sprains, who were experiencing tenderness and/or pain, and had not re-injured the area in the previous six weeks.

18 of the subjects were assigned to receive rehabilitation and the other 15 subjects received chiropractic adjustments in addition to rehabilitation. Each individual had five full weeks of therapy, with the rehabilitation group receiving therapy seven days a week and the rehab plus chiropractic group receiving therapy six out of the seven days.

The authors found that the individuals who had both rehab and chiropractic fared the best at the 4-week mark when it came to pain and joint restriction. In addition, no negative effects were reported, showing that this treatment option is safe.

If you're near our office in Silverdale and you're struggling with an ankle injury, give us a call. We'll do what we can to keep you up and running...literally!

Bibliography

• American College of Sports Medicine. (n.d.). Ankle sprains and the athlete. Retrieved from https://www.acsm.org/docs/current-comments/anklesprainstemp.pdf
• Lubbe, D et al. (2015, January). Manipulative therapy and rehabilitation for recurrent ankle sprain with functional instability: a short-term, assessor-blind, parallel-group randomized trial. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 38(1), 22-34, doi:10.1016/j.jmpt.2014.10.001