New findings out of Duke University and the University of Utah suggest that conditioning programs that emphasis stretching and muscle strengthening can greatly reduce the risk of ankle injuries among soccer players.
According to researchers, players in these programs suffered 40 percent fewer ankle sprains than individuals in the control group.
“This new data can be used by clinicians to provide evidence-based recommendations to their patients,” said Dr. Nathan Grimm, an orthopedic surgeon and researcher at Duke University. “It can also be used by coaches who wish to implement programs that will decrease the risk of injuries in athletes, and by the athletes who are trying to make the decision about participating in an injury prevention program.”
Soccer and Ankle Injury Prevention
Ankle injuries are one of if not the most common injury suffered by soccer players. The injuries can range from mild soreness to severe high ankle sprains and even ankle fractures. Considering how often ankle injuries occur, it’s no surprise that researchers were eager to see if they could develop treatment programs to reduce their likelihood.
For their study, researchers reviewed 10 different studies involving over 4,000 male and female soccer players, looking for ankle injuries and whether or not they had gone through some sort of preparation or prevention methods associated with such injuries. Researchers only focused on interventions such as neuromuscular, proprioceptive, strengthening, and stretching exercises while excluding other techniques like ankle bracing or taping.
After looking at the data, researchers uncovered that an athlete’s likelihood of suffering an ankle injury during a soccer practice or game decreased roughly 40 percent when they participated in some form of preventative program.
“This is the first study of its kind on ankle injuries in soccer athletes to strongly support injury prevention programs to reduce ankle injuries,” Grimm said. “In our analysis, we were able to review the results from multiple studies, and make conclusions we could not make from any one study by itself.”
It’s not too shocking that athletes who strengthen their ankles are less likely to suffer an ankle injury, but the bigger picture is that more athletic programs should consider developing programs that target the ligaments in the ankles. The stronger your ankles are, the less likely they are to roll at an inopportune time.
