Research and News
Posts tagged chronic ankle sprains
Functional rehabilitation of chronic ankle instability effective
Jul 12th
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It’s been reported that athletes suffering an ankle sprains re-injure their ankle 70% to 80% of the time. This leads to chronic ankle instability or ‘functional ankle instability’. Rehabilitation for chronic ankle sprains often includes functional exercises including dynamic closed-chain activities. Thera-Band® products such as elastic resistance bands, stability trainers and balance boards are used for functional rehabilitation.
Researchers at the University of Toledo performed a systematic review of functional exercise interventions for their effectiveness. They identified 6 studies that met their criteria for the review, including 4 that used balance boards and elastic resistance strengthening. The researchers concluded that functional rehabilitation improves dynamic balance and self-reported function in patients with chronic ankle sprains. The exercise programs from the reviewed studies generally lasted 4 to 6 weeks and were performed 3 to 5 times a week. Finally, they pointed out that wobble board training in rehabilitation programs is “supported by the literature”; therefore, Thera-Band balance boards should be a standard component of chronic ankle instability rehabilitation program.
REFERENCE Webster KA, Gribble PA. Functional rehabilitation interventions for chronic ankle instability: a systematic review. J Sport Rehabil. 2010 More >
Thera-Band Kicks improve balance after chronic ankle sprains in only 4 weeks
Apr 6th
Thera-Band Tubing Hip Extension Kick
As many as 70% of people who sprain their ankle re-injure themselves; poor balance has been implicated as a possible cause for the high recurrence rate in ankle sprains. As a result, balance training exercises have been prescribed to help reduce subsequent ankle sprains. Exercise programs using unstable surfaces such as Thera-Band Stability Trainers and Balance Boards have been shown effective at improving balance in patients with chronic ankle sprains. Recently, researchers from San Jose State University found that exercises using elastic tubing are also effective at improving balance in patients suffering from repetitive ankle sprains. In the randomized, controlled study, both subjects with and without a history of ankle sprains were given 4 weeks of elastic tubing exercise involving ‘kicks’ against the resistance in 4 directions; they exercised 3 times pwer week for 3 sets of 15 repetitions. The subjects progressively increased the resistance level over the 4 weeks. After only 4 weeks of training, balance improved in both subjects with and without a history of sprains, demonstrating the efficacy of the simple exercise often referred to as “Thera-Band Kicks.” Interestingly, subjects had improved balance up to 4 weeks after the exercise program had ended.
Han et al. 2009. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 39(4):246-255 More >
