Ankle sprains. We’ve all had them, and statistically, many of us will reinjure the same ankle in the future. Simple ankle sprains can continue to inhibit activities years after the injury. This blog isn’t about the key points of rehabilitation, but rather what we test to indicate you are ok to return to sport safely. These tests are broken up into strength/endurance, mobility, and stability.
- Calf endurance.
A comparative single leg heel raise between the injured side and the non-injured limb is used to help assess strength and endurance deficits. We like our runners to achieve 30-50reps on each leg and have less than 20% deficit before returning to running activities.
- Knee to wall test
This test is to assess the limitation of ankle mobility into dorsiflexion. Ideally, the injured leg should be within 2cm of the unaffected side and we hope to achieve a score between 8cm – 12cm of movement.
- Star Excursion Balance Test
This balance test is to assess balance and proprioception (your ability to know where your body is in space). Poorer scores correlate to increased chance of re-injury
- Lateral Hop test.
The lateral Hop test is used to assess power, balance and stability. We compare the time it takes to complete 10 hops (one hop = over and back) over a 30cm distance.
Although an individual’s return to sport is dependent on many factors, we work to ensure all our ankle sprain patients complete these tests successfully before returning to sport. This reduces the risk or re-injury and ankle problems in the future.
By Luke Peterson