Short-Foot Exercise Promotes Quantitative Somatosensory Function in Ankle Instability: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Rehabilitation Science
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Ankle sprains impair neurosensory processing, often leading to chronic ankle instability (CAI).
• Short-foot exercise (SFE) is a potential intervention, but its neurosensory effects are unstudied.
• Proprioceptive sensory exercise (PSE) is a common rehabilitation approach for CAI.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the neurosensory impact of SFE in CAI patients.
• To compare the effectiveness of SFE versus PSE in improving neurosensory function and ankle stability.
• To evaluate quantitative neurosensory indicators, balance, and ankle instability.

Main Methods:

• 30 adults with CAI were randomly assigned to SFE or PSE groups (n=15 each).
• Interventions involved exercises 3 times per week for 8 weeks.
• Measurements included joint position sense, vibration sensory thresholds, dynamic balance, and ankle instability, assessed pre- and post-intervention.

Main Results:

• The SFE group showed significantly greater improvements in eversion joint position sense (p<0.05).
• SFE led to more significant improvements in vibration sensory thresholds (p<0.01).
• The SFE group demonstrated superior improvements in anteroposterior, mediolateral, and overall balance indices (p<0.05) and ankle instability (p<0.05).

Conclusions:

• Short-foot exercise (SFE) is more effective than proprioceptive sensory exercise (PSE) for treating CAI.
• SFE enhances neurosensory function, balance, and stability in CAI patients.
• Developing controlled SFE programs can aid patient recovery and return to daily activities.