Preliminary study on the potential benefits of proprioceptive activity in functional recovery:comparison between two athletes affected by ankle sprain

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of general proprioception (Sincrony method) as an integrative tool for functional recovery in young athletes who had suffered a grade 2 ankle sprain. The study was a case report conducted on a 13-year-old athlete, G.P., and a same-aged, history, and sport-role-matched control athlete (both left-side attackers). Both athletes had suffered a similar injury in the dynamics of landing from a jump with eversion of the right ankle, about 65 days apart. They had the same hospital and medical prognosis, but only one was proposed a general proprioceptive work protocol with attention focused on the injury and consequent increase in blood flow during the complete stop phase following the injury. The athletes were evaluated using the Five Step Test at three different times during the inactive period before the start of functional recovery. The tests applied, like the chosen inventory exercise, were selected to isolate the physiological component as much as possible from the psychological ones. Although not statistically significant, the results showed a drastic improvement in the athlete who integrated the medical protocol with the proprioceptive one, suggesting the development of new studies in this field.