Lateral ankle sprains account for a vast majority of ankle injuries and said injury causes damage not only to the ligaments, but also the muscles, nerves, and mechanoreceptors that go across the lateral ankle. Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is generally the result of repetitive lateral ankle sprains and patients suffering from this condition often have deficits in functional proprioception, strength, and performance. One of the most essential parts of a rehab protocol for the ankle is strength training and this is mainly due to the fact that muscle weakness is associated with CAI. Since strength training is primarily used in participants with ankle instability to improve physical conditioning it is safe to assume that said training will work …show more content…
If any participant was noncompliant, determined by the number of sessions of rehabilitation that were attended, or got an injury that was nonrelated in the lower extremity they were pulled from the trial after the beginning. Baseline testing was done on only the involved limb to test functional performance, isometric strength, perceived instability, and dynamic balance. From there the participant was placed into either the PNF, control (CON), or RBP group where they completed their protocol three times a week for six weeks. At the end of the six weeks posttests were administered to measure the changes in the aforementioned areas. To assess strength an isometric handheld dynamometer was used with testing done in all four directions. A total of three trials, lasting three seconds, were conducted with a rest period of ten seconds between each trial. The triple-crossover hop test for distance, for assessment of power, and figure-eight hop test, to test speed and agility, were used in the functional performance testing. The fastest time out of the two attempts for the figure-eight hop test was used in the analysis of the results. The …show more content…
In regards to the strength in the directions of plantarflexion and dorsiflexion for the PNF group, there were no improvements that were noteworthy. Although, there was some benefit when it came to inversion and eversion strength since it was noticeably improved in the PNF group. Surprisingly there was no clinical effect on the functional performance or dynamic balance, measured using the figure-eight hop test, triple-crossover hop test and the Y-balance test. After the entirety of the six weeks, when participants who were in both the RBP and PNF group filled out the VAS they indicated that they felt notable improvement of their perceived ankle instability. A possible limitation to the study, that could explain the poor outcome for no improvement in the dorsiflexion and plantarflexion, is that when the PNF patterns were administered in those directions the investigator was unable to provide manual resistance that was adequate. Another limitation in the study, that could be the reason no improvement was seen in dynamic balance or functional performance, is that since the training protocols were limited to the ankle, then it could possibly be beneficial to instead use protocols that facilitated neuromuscular control at the knee and hip as well. Despite the limitations present in the study, it is clear that the use of both the RBP and PNF group