Heß, T.; Milani, T.L.; Kilper, A.; Mitschke, C. Immediate Effects of Wearing an Ankle Bandage on Fine Coordination, Proprioception, Balance and Gait in the Subacute Phase of Ankle Sprains. Life2024, 14, 810.
Heß, T.; Milani, T.L.; Kilper, A.; Mitschke, C. Immediate Effects of Wearing an Ankle Bandage on Fine Coordination, Proprioception, Balance and Gait in the Subacute Phase of Ankle Sprains. Life 2024, 14, 810.
Heß, T.; Milani, T.L.; Kilper, A.; Mitschke, C. Immediate Effects of Wearing an Ankle Bandage on Fine Coordination, Proprioception, Balance and Gait in the Subacute Phase of Ankle Sprains. Life2024, 14, 810.
Heß, T.; Milani, T.L.; Kilper, A.; Mitschke, C. Immediate Effects of Wearing an Ankle Bandage on Fine Coordination, Proprioception, Balance and Gait in the Subacute Phase of Ankle Sprains. Life 2024, 14, 810.
Abstract
Ankle sprains are the most frequently occurring musculoskeletal injuries among recreational athletes. Ankle support through bandages following the initial orthotic treatment might be beneficial for rehabilitation purposes. Since hardly any study has investigated the impact of bandages in the acute phase of ankle sprains, our study examined the immediate effects of wearing an ankle bandage on fine coordination, proprioception, and motor performance in subjects five weeks after an acute ankle injury. In total, 70 subjects with acute unilateral supination trauma were tested. All subjects completed several rating questionnaires and biomechanical investigations, including a fine coordination and proprioception test, single leg stances, the Y-Balance test and gait analysis. All biomechanical investigations were conducted for the subject's injured leg with and without a bandage (MalleoTrain® Bauerfeind AG) and the healthy leg. Subjects reported moderate to strong improvements in ankle stability and pain when wearing the bandage. Wearing the bandage significantly normalized subjects’ single leg stance performance, as well as the stance phase duration, and the vertical ground reaction forces during walking. However, the bandage did not have a clear effect on fine coordination and proprioception. Wearing a bandage in the acute phase of an ankle sprain may immediately improve motor performance, including standing and walking.
Keywords
acute ankle sprain; ankle joint; ankle bandage; soft ankle orthoses; fine coordination and proprioception; single leg stance; Y-Balance test; modified Star Excursion Balance test; gait; rehabilitation
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
