Background It is not known why continuing instability exists after ankle sprain. The most common hypotheses include impairments in proprioception, muscle power or postural control [1] but a relationship has not been established. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between functional instability and invertor/evertor peak power, accuracy of movement detection and ...

OBJECTIVE To determine if postural control deficits are present in participants with functional ankle instability (FAI) as measured by the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS). DESIGN AND SETTING We used a between-groups design to assess postural control. All testing was conducted in a university athletic training facility. PARTICIPANTS Sixty collegiate Division I athletes were included in t...

The tendency for the foot to “ give way “ (a complaint here referred to as functional instability) after an ankle sprain has been attributed to a number of pathological processes, among which the most widely accepted are varus instability of the talus in the ankle mortise (Nilsonne 1932, Elmslie 1934, Watson-Jones 1955, Dziob 1956, Wiles 1959, Perkins 1961) and adhesion formation at the subtala...

Objective: To determine whether the triple-crossover hop and timed shuttle run are able to discriminate between injured and uninjured limbs in subjects with functional ankle instability. Design and Setting: A comparative study involving the assessment of functional performance, conducted in a university gymnasium. Participants: A volunteer sample of 16 university-age subjects with unilateral fu...

CONTEXT Individuals with and without functional ankle instability have been tested for deficits in lower limb proprioception with varied results. OBJECTIVE To determine whether a new protocol for testing participants' joint position sense during stepping is reliable and can detect differences between participants with unstable and stable ankles. DESIGN Descriptive laboratory study. SETTI...

Lateral ankle sprains are among the most frequent athletic injuries. Lateral ankle sprains have been reported to recur at a rate in excess of 80%, and chronic ankle instability (CAI) is a frequent and serious pathologic consequence of sprains that develops in up to 50% of those with a history of ankle sprain [1]. These individuals often present with feelings of “giving way” and reports of sudde...

OBJECTIVE: To determine if functional performance is impaired in individuals with self-reported chronic ankle instability. DESIGN AND SETTING: We used a between-groups design to assess 3 functional variables. All data were collected at a Division III college and a military academy. Before testing, all subjects performed a 5-minute warm-up, followed by a series of stretches for the lower extremi...

BACKGROUND The ankle joint requires very precise neuromuscular control during the transition from terminal swing to the early stance phase of the gait cycle. Altered ankle joint arthrokinematics and muscular activity have been cited as potential factors that may lead to an inversion sprain during the aforementioned time periods. However, to date, no study has investigated patterns of muscle act...

Ankle sprain is one of the most common sport injuries in lower extremities. It frequently occurs in landing phase when athletes perform jumping. The counter movement jump and straddle jump are common jumping strategies often used in baseball and volleyball games. Recurrent ankle sprain frequently leads to a chronic disability, the functional instability. The purpose of this study was to investi...