Chiropractic Works for Ankle Sprains

We see many patients in our Yakima office with ankle sprains but Dr. Covington 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 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 activities 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. Covington Help?

A report printed in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics set out to identify 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 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 people received chiropractic in addition to rehab. Each person had five full weeks of treatments, with the rehab group receiving treatment seven days a week and the rehab plus chiropractic group receiving treatment 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 undesirable effects were reported, showing that this treatment option is safe.

If you're near our office in Yakima 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!

Sources

• 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