Many professional and amateur athletes depend on chiropractic care to improve performance and assist in recovery. For instance, all 31 NHL teams and all 32 NFL teams have chiropractors on staff to help their players perform at their best, and over 150 chiropractors were at the recent Olympic games in PyeongChang to work with US and Canadian athletes. Professionals know that chiropractic works, and we see that every day in our Prescott clinic.

A small trial study from Sweden confirmed this by working with 19 female handball players who were recovering from an ankle injury. The athletes were randomly assigned to receive either chiropractic adjustments or a sham treatment for three weeks. By the end of treatment, the chiropractic patients had significantly better improvements in vertical jumping height.

In recently published research case studies, a 13-year-old, female, avid recreational soccer player presented to a clinic with ankles that would spontaneously invert during various inconsistent points in the weight bearing gait cycle, sometimes with acute pain or sprain to the ankle. No intervention was attempted prior to her entry to the chiropractic office. A 17-year-old male avid skate- boarder and snowboarder whose left ankle routinely “gave out” into inversion upon mundane weight bearing activity, usually with pain and with dependence on wearing an ankle support when skateboarding to lessen ankle pain. The patient had used an ankle support prior to seeking chiropractic care.

In both cases, high velocity, low amplitude chiropractic manipulative therapy was applied to the spine, pelvis and extremity joints was the primary intervention in both cases, with particular focus on the ankle. Other procedures used included taping and orthotics, but not before the manipulation effect was noted. In both cases, subjective and objective improvements were noted in ankle stability and sports performance.

Conclusion

High velocity, low amplitude chiropractic manipulative therapy to the spine, pelvis, and extremities, particularly at the ankle, should be considered when managing young recreational and professional athletes with functional chronic, recurrent, ankle inversion sprains.

Although further research is warranted to expand on these findings, these results show that chiropractic plays a role in recovering from ankle injuries.