Chiropractic Works for Ankle Sprains

We see many patients in our Corvallis office with ankle sprains but Dr. Lach has had a lot of success helping them recover more quickly. Why are ankle sprains so common and how can your chiropractor 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 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 exercises 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 Chiropractic Treatments and Dr. Lach Help?

A report published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics set out to identify 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 receive rehabilitation and the other 15 subjects received chiropractic adjustments in addition to rehabilitation. Each individual had five full weeks of treatments, with the rehab group receiving treatment seven days a week and the rehabilitation plus chiropractic group receiving care six out of the seven days.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With Ankle Sprains

Researchers found that the people who participated in both rehabilitation and chiropractic fared the best at the 4-week mark when it came to pain and joint restriction. In addition, no bad effects were reported, showing that this treatment option is safe.

If you're near our office in Corvallis and you're suffering from an ankle injury, give us a call. We'll do what we can to keep you up and moving... 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