Balance Problems After Unilateral Lateral Ankle Sprains

Main Category: Sports Medicine / Fitness
Also Included In: Rehabilitation / Physical Therapy
Article Date: 14 Apr 2007 - 1:00 PDT


We examined balance problems in athletes with acute lateral ankle sprains by recruiting 30 male athletes with right dominant side and traumatic ankle sprain through simple nonprobability sampling. We measured their sway index and limits of stability with the Biodex Balance System under different conditions.

Our results showed that balance ability in patients with acute lateral ankle sprain was significantly weaker when their eyes were closed rather than open.

We also found that after lateral ankle sprain, balance problems occur and are a result of proprioceptive deficits, especially the unconscious (reflexive) aspect of proprioception as opposed to the conscious (voluntary) aspect.

This factor probably plays an important role in recurrence of ankle sprain. Improvement in the conscious aspect can occur in the first month of treatment, but the unconscious aspect experiences a delay in healing of 3 to 6 months. Therefore, an effective rehabilitation program for managing proprioceptive deficits should be followed.

This article can be found in the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development Volume 43, Number 7, Page 819

About the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development (JRRD)

JRRD has been a leading research journal in the field of rehabilitation medicine and technology for more than 40 years. JRRD, a peer-reviewed, scientifically indexed journal, publishes original research papers, review articles, as well as clinical and technical commentary from U.S. and international researchers on all rehabilitation research disciplines. JRRD's mission is to responsibly evaluate and disseminate scientific research findings impacting the rehabilitative healthcare community.

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