We see quite a few patients in our North County, St. Louis, MO office with ankle sprains but Dr. Mark Holland has had a lot of success helping them heal more quickly. Why are ankle sprains so common and how can chiropractic care help?
According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), approximately 25,000 people in the US sprain their ankles every day. In fact, these injuries make up almost 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 take place 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 past ankle injuries, poor posture or balance, weak muscles, and reduced range of motion. How can Dr. Mark Holland help?
A study printed in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics set out to discover chiropractic's role when it comes to ankle sprain recovery. Researchers recruited 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 area in the previous six weeks.
18 of the subjects were assigned to receive rehabilitation and the remaining 15 patients received chiropractic in addition to rehabilitation. Each individual had five full weeks of therapy, with the rehabilitation group receiving treatment seven days a week and the rehab plus chiropractic group receiving therapy six out of the seven days.
The study found that the people who participated in both rehab and chiropractic fared the best at the 4-week mark when it came to pain and joint restriction. Additionally, no negative effects were reported, showing that this treatment option is safe.
If you're near our location in North County, St. Louis, MO 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!
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