Best Way to Prevent Ankle Injuries
“Ankle injuries in basketball players is not just most common, it is also most severe. For a healthy and safe sports life, prevention of ankle injuries is the first key. In fact the reasons for ankle injuries are different among men and women athletes. So, they need different prevention programs”, says Bruce Beynnon, Ph.D., and his colleagues at the University of Vermont.
Suffering from an ankle injury is the strong risk factor for repeated occurrence of the ankle injury. So, the researchers made an attempt to find out the factors that predispose an athlete to suffer from the first ankle injury.
The researchers studied factors responsible for occurrence of ankle injuries in 901 Vermont high school and collegiate athletes, who play to basketball, soccer, lacrosse or field hockey, for a period of over 4 years. The athletes who suffered from an ankle trauma earlier were excluded from this study.
The research found out that the first ankle sprain occurred only in 4.5% athletes during the study period. The female basketball players are found to be at more risk of ankle injuries than their male counterparts.
The reasons for first ankle injuries in female athletes are:
- The muscles controlling the side-to-side movement of the ankle has strength imbalance
- Wrong alignment of the muscles in front of the leg with knee
- Loose ankles that lead to weak ligaments or structural problems
- Equally dominate legs
The reasons for first ankle injuries in male athletes are:
- Prior surgeries to legs
- Decreased dorsi-flexion, which means ability to point toe towards head
- Not enough muscle strength for motion when ankle rolls away from the body
- Incomplete healing after surgery
Researchers say that with this understanding of factors that put athletes at more risk of ankle injuries helps in devising more effective prevention strategies. In fact, different causes for ankle injuries in male and female athletes suggest that separate programs should be adapted in areas of intervention, screening and injury prevention.