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Ankle brace research
Posted by devo on February 17, 2008
The American Journal of Sports Medicine, (February 2008) is reporting that Ankle braces definately help prevent injuries.
There were 797 ankle injuries during 811,710 NCAA practices or games from 1988 to 2005, translating to an injury rate of 0.98 for every 1,000 exposures. For the Penn players, there was just a single ankle injury during 13,500 games or practices during those seven seasons, for an injury rate of 0.07 per 1,000 exposures.
Nearly half of the 132 Penn players in the study had suffered ankle injuries before starting to play college volleyball, Sennett and his team note.
Read the full article here. Also check out Volleyball Base here.
April said
I just read this article. I wonder what Lauren has to say. I personally thought that ankle braces somehow inhibited certain muscles to strengthen themselves. I never played with them but now I see that almost every player on a junior club team has them on.
Tristan said
Interesting stats, my cynical side always thought that ankle braces kind of weakened the ankle. But I too did start wearing them eventually. And it does seem to be true, teams that insist on all players wearing them seem to have less ankle injuries. I guess that’s why they make ankle braces… if they didn’t work it would be kind of a croc.
Eldo said
I declare a vested interest, as Elson Volley import the Active Ankle braces they are refering to in the article. Last week at a Heathfield school training a year 9 girl in a blocking drill landed on a ball with BOTH feet. The ball rolled away leaving her sitting on her butt on the floor but no injury. I have seen this several times. Medical evidence from ALL over the world shows that good ankle braces do not and can not weaken ankles. World wide evidence also shows that the taping of ankles lasts only for a short time until the tape heats up due to heat from exercise. I cetainly suggest to serious players that they are a great investment.
mark said
I didn’t know people still believed that stuff about braces weakening ankles. I thought that was debunked years and years ago. But I digress…
Ankle braces together with proprioceptive training of the ankles and knees reduces the frequency and severity of ankle injuries.
bomberino.com - » To Brace or Not to Brace? said
[...] friend Devo over at Devo’s Volleyball posted today about some new research into ankle braces, as well as links to a couple of articles about the pros and cons of wearing braces. Everyone seems [...]
WiG said
In addition to Eldo the nature of strapping tape that has been in use for more than 15 mins is to stretch, which therefore increases movement in the ankle.
One area that ankle braces play an important role is in injury rehabilitation. In many cases it is a ‘mind over matter’ relationship with ankle injury rehab, if the person feels that their ankle is weak then they are more likely to re-injure their ankle again. By providing stability in the ankle region braces are an effective aid in helping the body regain strength and proprioception. As shown in studies there is no direct correlation between ankle braces and ankle weakness or degeneration. Ankle braces are designed to limit inversion and eversion movements of the ankle, outside the normal range of motion. Plantar and dorsi flexion of the foot is not restricted in most of the mainstream designs which allows for normal movement of the foot and as such would not inhibit the development of muscles in the foot. For the most part ligaments are the main source of proprioception in the ankle and foot and being made out of cartilage they cannot be strengthened regardless of how much work is done.
Brooks Masterton said
I too thought this issue was delt with a long time ago. Nine years ago now I did this research for my kids ( now both almost finnished as University varsity Volleyball careers). At that time one of the American Military basketball team wore Active Ankle braces with a significant reduction in ankle injury. Most braces worn by Vball playere provide littel or no supporrt through the normal range of movment it is only when they exceed the range with the potential of injury that the support come into play and therfore reduce injury. With little suppor during the normal range of movment they could not “weaken” any developing ankle.
best
Brooks Masterton
Eldo said
Well isn’t this one for the books. A volleyball issue that everybody is in agreement. A bit boring really. Eldo
Rackit said
With as many ankle braces that are worn playing volleyball. There is one brace that I think is far better than Active Ankle, but seldom seen. Has anyone else tried the DonJoy Velocity Ankle Brace? I got it from my doctor after I attempted to go without an ankle brace and sprained my ankle pretty bad. The DonJoy Velocity ankle brace is amazing compared to Active Ankle. It’s sleeker, fits better and seems to have more support while allowing more mobility. I reordered a second pair from here: http://www.betterbraces.com/ViewProducts/DonJoyVelocityAnkleBrace/108.aspx
Caitlin said
That may be possible, but this study only recorded data from athletes wearing the braces. So, even though their stabilizing muscles may be weakened, they’re still wearing the braces during activity and thus are less susceptible to ankle sprains. I’ve been looking for a study that looks at the incidence of ankle sprains when athletes stop wearing the braces or stop using the prophylactic tape jobs. When you’re using an external stabilization aid, it only seems logical that the muscles normally responsible for this stabilization will be come weaker… so will they be more susceptible to sprains once they stop using the brace/tape?
Schachty said
Lucky enough to get along to some indoor games at the Beijing Olympics. Saw the mens semi Italy and Brazil with Fei the opposite trying to play on a hurt ankle…with no brace. Just about the whole team had no braces. Just to emphasize the point Mastrangelo the middle blocker landed on a Brazillian foot and bang there went his ankle…..They were not really in the match apart from the first set but this injury and the ongoing problem with Fei really gave them no chance…..But they looked cool with out ankle braces or knee pads.
Sally B said
I have sprained and broken my left ankle playing volleyball. I have never used the active ankle and basically went back to playing without braces. I would like to know how many people who have worn “active ankles” actually had a knee injury as the active ankle stopped the ankle from spraining but created a knee strain or tear??? Or even sprained the front of the ankle and not the sides due to restrictions placed on these areas!! Over time i have learnt to actually fall with the sprain rather than try to right the ankle. Has worked for me so far. Everyone will have different ideas as to what is best. I have seen a variety of ankle sprains over the past 25 years – all sprains are different – it just really depends on the make up of the person. Some people may have great balance and are less prone to sprains. It is interesting reading tho..
markleb said
Caitlin – ankles that have been sprained are more susceptible to repeated sprains because of a lack of rehabilitation. After you have sprained an ankle you MUST complete a proper rehabilitation program for the strength, stability and proprioception. Ankle braces only work AFTER the normal range of motion has been exceeded. For 99.9% of the time they do not have any working effect therefore they can not weaken any muscles of either the ankle or the knee. Tape is slightly different because it restricts some normal movement but still does not weaken muscles.
Sally – active ankles break if they are over extended which is long before any fixed position of the ankle will affect the knee. Active ankles reduce the severity of an incident rather stop incidents occurring. So what would have been a grade 3 sprain is normally only grade 2, etc etc. They don’t protect against sprains on front of the ankle, but they relatively infrequent in volleyball.
Schachty – Fei would certainly have been taped after spraining his ankle earlier in the tournament. But in general Italians don’t believe in braces because they believe the old wives tales about braces weakening the joints. Brazilians didn’t use to wear ankle braces until they lost a World Championships semi final because Giba sprained his ankle while they were leading, ironically, against Italy. They learnt…
edbinnie said
Mark, where was this last month – before I went down to a grade 3 ankle – care of a guy coming under the net in a social game – just before christmas!
I must say that I do find it very strange that people only wear 1 active ankle – from a balance and movement perspective, I would have thought it better to wear 2.
Looks like I am now definitely joining the land of the brace. Darn social games.
nathan said
I’m no doctor or physio so have no direct evidence for or against ankle braces. But from my many years experience as a volleyball player i’ve had my ankle’s protected numerous times by the active ankle. I don’t know if i would of been able to play the lead up/or asians 07 If i wasnt wearing my ankle braces against Tunisia in a lead up tour. Amazingly i was able to play against France 3 days later. I have seen so many guys in europe go over on their ankles without ankle braces. I have never seen anybody injure their knee due to going over on their ankle wearing ankle braces. I ‘personally’ believe that all players should wear the active ankles.