RETURNING TO SPORT

“The psychological effects of a high ankle sprain when returning to sport”



“The psychological effects of a high ankle sprain when returning to sport”

Thesis Statement

Returning to sports should be a continuous process, not restricted to bed rest.

High Ankle Injury (Syndesmotic ankle sprain)

Syndesmotic ankle sprain is a unique and frustrating injury, one that is commonly misdiagnosed and results in an extended recovery period. The syndesmotic sprain is a high ankle sprain that involves the anterior and posterior tibia fibular ligaments, as well as the interosseous membrane. These structures are located above or closer to the lateral ligaments, which are more often injured than the syndesmosis. The most common mechanism involves external rotation of the foot. Many other researchers also believe that external rotation of the foot is the primary cause of syndesmotic ankle sprains other authors suggest that a concomitant deltoid ligament injury usually accompanies a syndesmosis sprain, because it is their belief that aversion and external rotation of the ankle and foot are the mechanisms of injury for syndesmotic ankle sprains. Professional football players also concluded that neither surface nor shoe type was a factor in syndesmotic ankle sprains; rather, this particular injury was the result of the kind of considerable force that was most commonly seen in collision- type sports such as football or ice hockey (and was rarely seen in sports like basketball).

Delay in returning to the Sport

Most such injuries take quite a time to recover resulting in the delay in returning to the sport. This is because of the nature of the injury as the syndesmosis (High Ankle Injury) requires an extended period of recovery before athletes can return to their strenuous athletic activity and, even then, the symptoms may persist for months. One of the most common questions is that why does syndesmotic ankle sprain require such an extended recovery process? The answer to this question may lie in the biomechanics of the distal tibio fibular syndesmosis. During dorsiflexion, the distal fibula moves laterally away from the tibia, and, at the same time, it is pulled superiorly, which brings the fibers of both the tibio fibular and interosseous ligaments into a more horizontal alignment. When the ankle is plantar flexed, the opposite occurs, with the fibula being pulled inferiorly by the flexors of the foot, which causes the fibers of the anterior tibio fibular ligament to assume a more vertical alignment.

This position would tend to elongate the anterior tibio fibular ligament, causing pain in the presence of injury. For a successful recovery process, it is critical that the athletes accept the fact of rapidly adapting new personal goals which the rehabilitation process can positively shape. In addition, various studies confirm that the experiences of practitioners in reference to the combination of medical and psychological aid in the recovery. The psychological aspects of sports injuries are basically in three areas:

1.The psychological stress during the rehabilitation phase

2.Psychological intervention strategies to promote the rehabilitation

3.Identification of psychosocial risk factors

Psychological effect of the sports injury

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