We see quite a few patients in our Nashville office with ankle sprains but Sweeney Chiropractic 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), an estimated 25,000 people in the US sprain their ankles daily. In fact, these injuries make up nearly 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 take place 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.
A paper published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics set out to identify chiropractic's role when it comes to ankle sprain recovery. The authors recruited 33 people 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 participate in rehabilitation and the other 15 people received chiropractic in addition to rehab. Each person had five full weeks of therapy, with the rehab group receiving treatment seven days a week and the rehabilitation plus chiropractic group receiving therapy six out of the seven days.
Researchers found that the people who had both rehabilitation and chiropractic fared the best at the 4-week mark when it came to pain and joint restriction. Furthermore, no bad effects were reported, showing that this treatment option is safe.
If you're near our location in Nashville 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!
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Dr. Jim Sweeney & Dr. Jon Sweeney, your Nashville Chiropractors and Palmer College of Chiropractic West graduates, provide quality chiropractic care to patients in Nashville, TN. If you suffer from back pain, neck pain, headache, sciatica or have been in an auto collision, Sweeney Chiropractic can get you back on the road to health.
