Ready To Return To Sport After An Ankle Sprain? Try This
/For some reason, people don't always take ankle sprains as seriously as they should. A lot of the time people return to sport too early.
If you've had a recent or not so recent ankle sprain, and you want to return to sport or training we recommend you try the below.
In a recent study, a battery of tests was created with a good prognosis of whether (or not) you will make a successful return to the sports field. It also tells you whether you need a little more rehab and what is actually missing in your rehab program.
The GO test has four functional performance tests
Put yourself through the test and see if you’re ready to play!
If you need a final blast of Physio you can also click HERE to book at our Bondii or Sydney CBD clinics
The GO battery of tests includes 4 functional ankle performance tests. You get a series of points that you need to add up after each test.
Put yourself through this series and see if you’re ready to play!
Single leg stance on a stable surface, 3 points up for grabs
Can you stand on 1 foot , hands on hips, with a slight bend in your knee and eyes closed for 20 seconds?
Results: If you got more than 3 errors in the 20 seconds then give yourself a zero, 1-3 errors give your self a 1 and no errors 2 points.
No feeling of your ankle rolling than give your self the full points at 3!
2.Modified star excursion balance Y test 7 points
See the video below for how to do the Y test. The goal is to challenge your ankle flexibility and balance through different planes of movement. Can you do a full star?
Go as far as you can through each point and compare to your good side.
Results: Did you complete less than 90%? Give yourself a 0, 90-95% give yourself a 2 , did you complete more than 95% give yourself a 4, no feeling of your ankle about to roll? Boom another 1 point
3. Single leg hop test 5 points
Spring in your ankle is crucial for sport. It is commonly not added if people finish their rehab too early. To assess the spring in your ankle Hop 10 times as fast as possible clearing two lines 30 cm apart.
Results
If it took you longer than 13 seconds make it 0, 10-13 seconds give yourself 2, less than 10 seconds 4
If it didn’t feel like you were going to roll your ankle add another 1 to your total
4.Figure 8 test 3 points
This challenges your ankles ability to change direction. You are going skip in a figure 8 around posts 5 metres apart as fast as possible for two consecutive laps (20 metres total).
Results
If it took you more than 18 seconds 0, 13-18 seconds 1, less than 13 seconds 2.
Finally once you’ve done that fill out the answers to this questionnaire for a total of 2 points
https://orthotoolkit.com/faam/
Add your total points up. How did you go? If your score was 8 or less I would strongly recommend you go see your Physio to finish your rehab program. Your ankle needs to be able to hop, change direction with great movement, have good balance and have the flexibiliy and strength required to not re injure your ankle.
You can click HERE to book in with our team at Bondi or the CBD any time