The effect of ankle disk training on muscle reaction time in subjects with a history of ankle sprain

Michael D. Osborne, Li Shan Chou, Edward R. Laskowski, Jay Smith, Kenton R. Kaufman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

95 Scopus citations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether 8 weeks of ankle disk training alters ankle muscle onset latency of patients with a history of lateral ankle sprain. The training was completed by eight minimally symptomatic subjects with a history of nonrehabilitated, unilateral, inversion ankle sprain sustained between 6 and 16 months before entry into the study. Ankle inversion perturbations monitored by fine-wire electromyography were performed in four lower extremity muscles (anterior tibialis, posterior tibialis, peroneus longus, and flexor digitorum longus) of all subjects on both the injured (experimental) and noninjured (control) legs. Testing was performed at study entry and after 8 weeks of ankle disk training on the previously injured ankle. Results revealed a statistically significant decrease in the anterior tibialis onset latency in both the experimental (67.6 ± 20.3 to 51.7 ± 17.6) and control (65.5 ± 9.8 to 53.8 ± 23.7) ankles after the training period. These findings indicate that muscle onset latency decreases in specific ankle muscle groups after ankle disk training in previously injured ankles. Both the experimental and control ankles demonstrated a significant change, which raises the question as to whether a proprioceptive cross-training effect occurred.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)627-632
Number of pages6
JournalAmerican Journal of Sports Medicine
Volume29
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 2001

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
  • Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The effect of ankle disk training on muscle reaction time in subjects with a history of ankle sprain'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this