How to Prevent Ankle Injuries

Ankle injuries are among the single most common type of injury that occurs to athletes, but you don’t have to be a jock to find yourself suffering from ankle sprains and strains.

First, consider that the difference between a sprain and strain is that a sprain occurs to a ligament, and a strain is an injury to a tendon or a muscle. The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases reports that about 850,000 Americans injure their ankles each year. Of these, 85 percent are sprains.

In a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2001 that involved 10,393 basketball players (3421 men and 6972 women) during competition, the average time missed due to ankle injuries was 2.2 weeks.

One of the most surprising findings from the study was that “players with a history of ankle injury were almost five times more likely to sustain an ankle injury.”

The feet and ankles form the foundation of the body, which means that if there is a structural or functional problem with the feet or ankles, this could increase the risk of injuries to the knees, hips and lower back.  As such, any strength and conditioning program for athletes that is intended to prevent injuries should address the health of the feet and ankles.

I mentioned that a sprain occurs to a ligament. Valgus feet is a condition where the feet collapse and the ankle bones internally rotate. When viewed from the rear, you will see that, in effect, the ankle does not rest directly above the feet. Such a structure increases the stress on the ligaments, a stress that increases significantly in physical fitness and athletic fitness activities. Consider, for example, that if an athlete jumps 12 inches off the floor, it’s estimated that the force upon landing is five times greater than bodyweight. This could explain why 46 percent of the injuries to the basketball players in the Australian study occurred during landing.

To protect the ankles, many athletes are prescribed orthotics. Although these supports will adjust the arch so that the ankles are positioned directly over the feet, they do not permanently correct the foot condition and over time, weaken the ligaments and muscles of the foot.  A more permanent, and faster, solution is to  stimulate the mechanoreceptors in the skin of the feet, thus triggering a stimulating effect of the flexor chains through reflex pathways. Because this information is processed by the nervous system, the speed at which the changes occur is very quick.