Chiropractic Therapy Works for Ankle Sprains

We see several patients in our Woburn office with ankle sprains but Dr. Ellis has had a lot of success helping them heal more quickly. Why are ankle sprains so common and how can chiropractic adjustments 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 practically 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 occur 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 Therapy and Dr. Ellis Help?

A paper published 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 people between the ages of 18 and 45 who had a history of ankle inversion sprains, who were experiencing tenderness and/or discomfort, and had not re-injured the ankle in the previous 6 weeks.

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

Research Shows Chiropractic Adjustments Helps With Ankle Sprains

The authors 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 negative effects were reported, showing that chiropractic treatment is safe!

If you're near our location in Woburn and you're struggling with an ankle injury, give us a call. We'll do what we can to keep you up and jumping... 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