We see a number of 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 help?
According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), approximately 25,000 men and women in the US sprain their ankles daily. As a matter of fact, these injuries make up nearly half of all sports injuries, causing people to spend time away from the activities they enjoy most.
Like any injury, there are many causes of ankle sprains. The most frequent is inversion, or when the ankle rolls inward. This injury can happen due to one forceful movement, or it can develop over 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 pre-existing ankle injuries, poor posture or balance, weak muscles, and reduced range of motion.
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. The authors recruited 33 men and women 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.
Eighteen of the participants were assigned to participate in rehabilitation and the other 15 patients received chiropractic in addition to rehab. Each individual had five full weeks of therapy, with the rehabilitation group receiving therapies seven days a week and the rehab plus chiropractic group receiving care six out of the seven days.
The study found that the individuals who participated in both rehabilitation and chiropractic fared the best at the 4-week mark when it came to pain and joint restriction. Furthermore, no adverse effects were reported, showing that chiropractic is safe.
If you're near our office in North County St. Louis, MO 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!
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