Research and News
Thera-Band exercises effective for acute ankle sprains
Ankle sprains are the most common injury in sports. Rehabilitation exercise after ankle sprains include active and resisted exercises, often performed with a Thera-Band® elastic band. Reduced ankle dorsiflexion range of motion (ROM) is considered to be a sign of significant injury and can affect gait and function.
Researchers at the Mayo clinic in Rochester, Minnesota recruited patients with acute (within 4 days) Grade I or II ankle sprains. They were prescribed a 4 to 6 week home exercise program that included cold and compression, along with progressive resisted exercises using an elastic band. Patients performed resisted dorsiflexion, plantarflexion, inversion, and eversion with a yellow Thera-Band resistance band, completing 3 sets of 10-20 repetitions, one to two times per day. The patients progressed through the remainder of the Thera-Band color-coded progression (red, green, blue, black, and silver) as they improved in strength. Once the patients could perform 3 sets of 10-20 repetitions of resisted plantar flexion, they began calf raises. They also performed single-leg balance exercises including standing on foam pads. In addition to the Thera-Band and balance programs that the patients received, participants were randomly assigned to one of 3 groups of stretching the Achilles tendon on increase dorsiflexion. Each group performed 3 repetitions of the stretch for different intervals: 30 seconds, 1 minute, or 2 minutes. Download the ankle rehabilitation exercise protocol handout here.
Regardless of the length of stretching, all subjects significantly improved in dorsiflexion ROM within 2 weeks. By 4 weeks, subjects had re-gained 10° of the active ROM necessary for walking on level surfaces.
While this study demonstrated significant improvement with the Thera-Band resisted exercises, there were several limitations to the study. First, there was no control group, limiting the ability to identify specific effects of the intervention. In addition, the examiners only measured dorsiflexion ROM outcomes, rather than examining different measures such as strength, function, and mobility. Despite these limitations, this study found that a home exercise program using Thera-Band resistance can be effective for treating acute Grade I and II ankle sprains within 4 days of injury.
Reference: Youdas JW, McLean TJ, Krause DA, Hollman JH. Changes in active ankle dorsiflexion range of motion after acute inversion ankle sprain. J Sport Rehabil. 2009 Aug;18(3):358-74.
Click here to visit the Thera-Band Academy Ankle Sprain Resource Center
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