Chiropractic Aids Sprained Ankle Recovery

​We see many patients in our Estero, Bonita Springs office with ankle sprains but Chiropractic Care & Rehab Center has had a lot of success helping them recover more quickly. Why are ankle sprains so common and how can chiropractic care help?

According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), an estimated 25,000 men and women in the US sprain their ankles every day. As a matter of fact, these injuries make up nearly 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 pre-existing ankle injuries, poor posture or balance, weak muscles, and reduced range of motion. How can Chiropractic Care & Rehab Center help?

A study published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics set out to discover 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 ankle in the previous six weeks.

Eighteen of the participants were assigned to participate in rehabilitation and the remaining 15 people received chiropractic in addition to rehab. Each individual had five full weeks of therapy, with the rehab group receiving therapy seven days a week and the rehab plus chiropractic group receiving therapy six out of the seven days.

Researchers found that the people who had both rehab and chiropractic fared the best at the 4-week mark when it came to pain and joint restriction. Additionally, no undesirable effects were reported, showing that this treatment option is safe.

If you're near our office in Estero, Bonita Springs and you're recovering from an ankle injury, give us a call. We'll do what we can to keep you up and moving...literally!

References

• 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