Chockstone Forum

      Sponsored By
      ROCK
   HARDWARE

Chockstone Photography

Australian Landscape Prints

Chockstone Forum - Accidents & Injuries

Report Accidents and Injuries

Topic Date User

Ankle rippy rippy 14-May-2005 At 2:02:43 PM Julian

Message

Hey Mathew, how are you?

There is a common misunderstanding that ligament laxity translates to instability.

You are very correct in that an ankle once strained, is much easier to strain again.

Ankle stability has much more to do with muscle proprioception than the laxity or tightness of ligaments. Although joints like the hip rely very much on the joint capsule and surrounding ligaments for stability, the ankle relies more on the surrounding musculature to keep it in the right position when walking, jumping etc. When the timing of motor control is impaired, as happens after a strain for reasons beyond my typing ability, it is significantly easier to roll your ankle again.

The peroneus muscles (there are 3) largely control how much your foot tilts when in motion. When landing on you feet, or even walking, etc, you spend a large amount of time on the outer margin of your foot. If the peroneus muscles don’t time their contraction very well, to tether that lateral roll, you will go over on your ankle (depending on applied force, centre of gravity bla bla bla). How badly, if at all, you strain it depends on the aforementioned bla bla’s plus a few more.

Assuming the ankle has healed, there are no gait problems, permanently ruptured ligaments, etc, the best treatment for a chronic ankle strain is proprioceptive exercises such as a wobble board. Or, brushing your teeth standing on one foot with your eyes closed!

Though a considerably more complex situation, the same can be said for shoulders after dislocation.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,

julian