Chiropractic Helps with Ankle Sprains

The American College of Sports Medicine reports that roughly 25,000 people in the United States sprain their ankle daily. Additionally, almost one-half of all sports-related injuries are ankle sprains, causing a large number of athletes to miss trainings and practices in the sports they love most. Fortunately, chiropractic has been deemed beneficial when it comes to ankle sprain recovery, and it's something that Dr. Mike Melton has had success with in our Carmel, IN office.

For instance, the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine references two case studies, one involving a 13-year-old female soccer player and the other a 17-year-old male who spent a lot of time either skateboarding or snowboarding. Both had chronic ankle issues, with the female's ankles inverting and the male's ankles "giving out," causing each of the subjects some relative amounts of pain. The male subject even had to wear a brace in order to help support his ankle and protect it from further injury.

After receiving chiropractic adjustments to their spine, pelvis, and lower extremities (with special attention focused on the ankle), the subjects reported positive effects. This led the researcher to conclude that chiropractic adjustments "should be considered when managing young recreational athletes with functional chronic, recurrent, ankle inversion sprains."

The University of Maryland Medical Center found that chiropractic works best with ankle injuries when combined with other treatment modalities generally used in-office. These includes ice, heat, electrical muscle stimulation, and the teaching of helpful stretches and exercises that can speed up the healing process and reduce further ankle-related injuries.

If you're suffering from an ankle sprain, Dr. Mike Melton might be able to help you. Give our Carmel, IN office a call today at (800) 295-3346 for an appointment.

Resources

• Ehrlich, S. (2014, March 19). Sprains and strains. University of Maryland Medical Center. Retrieved from https://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/sprains-and-strains
• Gillman SF. The Impact of Chiropractic Manipulative Therapy on Chronic Recurrent Lateral Ankle Sprain Syndrome in Two Young Athletes. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine 2004;3(4):153-159.
• Ibrahim V et al. Ankle Sprains and the Athlete. American College of Sports Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.acsm.org/docs/current-comments/anklesprainstemp.pdf on October 23, 2015.