Short-Foot Exercises Improve Postural Control and Ankle Instability in Chronic Ankle Instability: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

CONTEXT: Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is associated with weakness and atrophy of the intrinsic foot muscle. Short-foot exercise (SFE) selectively activates the intrinsic foot muscle and has been proposed as a therapeutic intervention. However, evidence supporting its effectiveness in individuals with CAI remains limited.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the effects of a 4-week SFE program on static and dynamic postural control and subjective ankle instability in individuals with CAI.

DESIGN

Randomized controlled clinical trial.

SETTING

Laboratory.

PATIENTS OR OTHER

PARTICIPANTS

We randomly allocated 24 participants with CAI to intervention (n = 12; age = 19.4 ± 0.9 years, height = 167.4 ± 8.6 cm, mass = 61.4 ± 8.6 kg) and control (n = 12; age = 19.5 ± 1.1 years, height = 165.9 ± 8.0 cm, mass = 61.7 ± 8.8 kg) groups.

INTERVENTIONS: The intervention group performed the SFE program 3 times per week for 4 weeks. The control group continued usual daily routines without additional training.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We assessed static and dynamic postural control and subjective ankle instability using center-of-pressure measurements during single-legged stance, the Star Excursion Balance Test, and the Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool, respectively, preintervention and postintervention. The data were analyzed using a 2-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (group × time) with an α level of .05.

RESULTS

The intervention group showed improvements in static postural control and subjective ankle instability compared with the control group (P < .05). We found no differences in dynamic postural control (P > .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings indicated that the 4-week SFE program effectively enhances static postural control and subjective ankle instability in individuals with CAI, supporting its integration into rehabilitation programs.