Proprioception and ankle sprains

I am surprised that you saw a study indicating orthotics improve proprioception. I believe just the opposite to be true. Anything between your foot and the ground will decrease proprioception, in my opinion. Your foot relies on sensory perception which is inhibited by shoes, socks, and orthotics. Without the necessary sensory feedback, your balance is compromised.

infinityrunner08 wrote:

I sprained my ankle yesterday during a run....... somehow I lost my footing and landed awkwardly. It all happened too fast.

You weren't paying attention.

iCoach wrote:

I am surprised that you saw a study indicating orthotics improve proprioception. I believe just the opposite to be true. Anything between your foot and the ground will decrease proprioception, in my opinion. Your foot relies on sensory perception which is inhibited by shoes, socks, and orthotics. Without the necessary sensory feedback, your balance is compromised.

I did a brief glance through the literature, and found a few studies that indicate that orthotics do in fact improve ankle proprioception. You are correct, though, in saying that when sensory feedback is decreased (via shoes and socks), proprioception and balance decreases. Unstable surfaces also contribute to this, and I wouldn't be surprised if orthotics cause a small boost to proprioception simply because they tend to be more firm than the regular insoles of a running shoe.

In the future, we should see more textured insoles in shoes to prevent these sorts of things, but for some baffling reason, they are not yet available, despite appearing to be effective in reducing acute injury in athletes in the literature. But until then, work on ankle balance, and tape it up. You can either use regular tape or a flexible tape like Kineso tape. Kinesio tape is nice because it isn't so stiff, but it still improves proprioceptive awareness via the tension on the skin.

Another poster indicated that you just weren't paying attention, which is probably the real cause (and the fact that you sprained the same ankle earlier). IIRC, the biggest risk factor for spraining your ankles is spraining your ankles! And don't chalk this one up to modern shoes and orthotics. While it is true that a thick midsole raises the ankle joint and could make inversion sprains more severe, guys sprained their ankles all the time during the 70s.

Very good. I like your ideas.

Balance pillows/boards should be a regular part of training, not just a rehabilitative exercise.

I agree gretest cause of sprained ankles is a previously sprained ankle.

Decreased proprioception caused by softness of the insole. I again concur that the orthotic may correct that.

As a rule however, I think orthotics should be a last resort for any foot problem.

I do agree that my previous ankle sprain was most likely the cause of this sprain. I'm currently wearing an ankle support called MalleoTrain. So far, it has helped decrease the swelling around the ankle. I'll work on balance exercises once I get the swelling under control.

Anyway, it seems like what I'm hearing so far is that orthotics, compared to soft insoles, has a small benefit to proprioception. I'm also curious if wearing orthotics with stability shoes (ex- Brooks Adrenaline, Asics Kayano) could affect proprioception by providing too much support and pronation control. I'll have to look into that.

YUCK.

The cause of your ankle sprain is you landed wrong. If you take 5 MILLION strides every year, you don't think that it would be within the normal range to land awkwardly a few times?

My goodness, use your brain for what it was meant for - address real issues.

The problem isn't poor proprioception, nor is it weak evertors. Your problem is terminal sciolism -- or colloquially speaking, "paralysis through analysis."

You lost your footing and landed awkwardly. It happens. Until it heals, you can tape the ankle. Chances are that you'll heal before you figure out how to tape it correctly, but worth a shot. I routinely tape my right ankle due to a chronic injury.

Actually I do have a brain. If this wasn't a real issue, it wouldn't be studied in research. All I'm doing is asking a question. You don't need to be such a jackass and personally attack me. Why don't you spend less time insulting others and unless you have something thoughtful to add, don't bother replying in my thread!

weak core.

I suspect malmo may be correct in this case. Accidents happen...there may not be anything wrong with you after all. You should be thankful!

infinityrunner08 wrote:

Actually I do have a brain. If this wasn't a real issue, it wouldn't be studied in research. All I'm doing is asking a question. You don't need to be such a jackass and personally attack me. Why don't you spend less time insulting others and unless you have something thoughtful to add, don't bother replying in my thread!

What I said was probably the most meaningful response on this thread. If you are wasting even one nanosecond thinking about something that might occur once out of five million times then there is something really wrong with your thinking.

Whether it's me, or your mother saying it, it needs to be said. Use your brain. Don't play with it. You can characterize it as a gratuitous insult if you wish. It is sound advice. Wasting time thinking about this is about as fruitful as wasting time thinking about what you are going to do with your earnings when you win the lottery.

infinityrunner08 wrote:

I was running on flat, paved dirt, and somehow I lost my footing and landed awkwardly. It all happened too fast.

What is paved dirt?

malmo wrote:

What I said was probably the most meaningful response on this thread.

Nah, my response was much more betterer.

He wasn't paying attention malmo, that's all you have to say, why make it more complicated with big words?