The in#uence of foot positioning on ankle sprains

The goal of this study was to examine the in#uence of changes in foot positioning at touch-down on ankle sprain occurrence. Muscle model driven computer simulations of 10 subjects performing the landing phase of a side-shu%e movement were performed. The relative subtalar joint and talocural joint angles at touchdown were varied, and each subject-speci"c simulation was exposed to a set of perturbed #oor conditions. The touchdown subtalar joint angle was not found to have a considerable in#uence on sprain occurrence, while increased touchdown plantar #exion caused increased ankle sprain occurrences. Increased touchdown plantar #exion may be the mechanism which causes ankles with a history of ankle sprains to have an increased susceptibility to subsequent sprains. This "nding may also reveal a mechanism by which taping of a sprained ankle or the application of an ankle brace leads to decreased ankle sprain susceptibility. ( 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.