Chiropractic Works for Ankle Sprains

​We see quite a few patients in our Arlington, WA office with ankle sprains but Dr. Ernst has had a lot of success helping them heal more quickly. Why are ankle sprains so common and how can chiropractic 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. In 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 common is inversion, or when the ankle rolls inward. This injury can occur due to one forceful movement, or it can develop over a period of time, and activities that increase the risk for this type of ankle sprain include running and jumping. You're also at risk if you have previous ankle injuries, poor posture or balance, weak muscles, and reduced range of motion. How can Dr. Ernst help?

A paper printed in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics set out to discover chiropractic's role when it comes to ankle sprain recovery. Researchers enrolled 33 people 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.

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

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

If you're near our office in Arlington, WA and you're struggling with 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