Nonsurgical Treatment of Acute and Chronic Ankle Instability

Ankle sprains are common injuries in the athletic population. Most of these injuries involve the lateral ligament complex of the ankle. Once the diagnosis is made, the patient in the acute setting may require short-term immobilization with edema control followed by an outlined program of functional rehabilitation. This program includes a progression of postural control and strengthening before advancing loading and working toward return to sport. In the chronic setting, the patient would follow a similar course of rehabilitation, particularly if they complain of functional instability. Most of the time, especially with an acute injury, the patient will improve. If they do not, there are reasonable surgical procedures that can be performed to help stabilize the ankle. In this chapter, we focus exclusively on the nonsurgical management of both acute and chronic ankle instability.