ICF Best Practice Recommendations: Lateral Ankle Sprain Interventions

1. Interventions: Manual Therapy

Hands-on treatments are very common in physical therapy and may be appropriately applied to people with lateral ankle sprains to reduce symptoms, improve range of motion, and increase function. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the research evidence and also guidelines-informed applications of specific manual physical therapy interventions.

2. Interventions: Therapeutic Exercise

This chapter will review therapeutic exercise applications for people with ankle sprains. Physical therapists, as human movement specialists, use exercise and activity as their chief form of intervention. The ability for physical therapists to plan and progress an exercise program for people with lateral ankle sprains will be critical for the best possible patient outcomes.

3. Other Interventions

Early supported mobilization, manual therapy, and exercise form the backbone for best practices in physical therapy management of lateral ankle sprains. Other interventions were cited in the clinical practice guideline as having strong evidence for effectiveness, as well. The purpose of this section is to discuss strategies for providing other interventions that have a high likelihood of contributing to beneficial patient outcomes, specifically, external support and cryotherapy.

4. Application of the CPG to a Patient Case: Process, Pitfalls, and Pearls

The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate the application of the CPG to a specific patient’s case, in order to provide a comprehensive example of how the course content can be utilized.