Chiropractic Treatment of Ankle Sprain

We see quite a few patients in our Jacksonville and Fleming Island office with ankle sprains but Dr. Fritz 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), an estimated 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 any injury, there are many causes of ankle sprains. The most common is inversion, or when the ankle rolls inward. This injury can happen 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 Chiropractic Treatments and Dr. Fritz Help?

A report printed in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics set out to determine chiropractic's role when it comes to ankle sprain recovery. The authors enrolled 33 men and women between the ages of 18 and 45 who had a history of ankle inversion sprains, who were reporting tenderness and/or pain, and had not re-injured the ankle in the previous six weeks.

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

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With Ankle Sprains

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. Also, no bad effects were reported, showing that chiropractic is safe.

If you're near our office in Jacksonville and Fleming Island and you're suffering from an ankle injury, give us a call. We'll do what we can to keep you up and running... literally!

Citations

• 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