Effects of Different Types of Ankle Brace on the Static Postural Stability in Patients with Functional Ankle Instability / 中国运动医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the effects of different types of ankle brace on human body static postural stability.Method Ten male subjects with unilateral functional ankle instability (FAI)were enrolled in the study.The FlexiForce pressure control system was used to control the pressure on the ankles when wearing the soft brace.The static postural stability without braces as well as with soft and semi-rigid braces was measured using WIN-POD system.Results (1)In eye-open testing,no significant difference was found in indexes of COP sway between wearing or not wearing braces (P＞0.05).Compared with wearing semi-rigid brace,significant increase was observed in the average X dev when wearing soft braces (P＜0.05).(2)In eye-close testing,no significant differences were found in COP sway either wearing braces or not,as well as wearing different braces.Conclusion Wearing soft and semi-rigid brace had no effects on the static postural stability of FAI patients.But the static balance ability of wearing semi-rigid braces is better than that of wearing soft braces.