Growing up as a student athlete, I placed a great amount of faith in my ankles - to support me, to move me, and to keep me agile in competitive situations. In fact, I may have been overly dependent on my ankles. My drive to play, regardless of the consequences, undoubtedly led to the use of my ankles prior to a full recovery from mild tweaks and sprains.

You can probably relate, in one way or another; sometimes life moves too fast to stay off your feet. However, improper aftercare and premature use of injured ankles can lead to a much larger problem: chronic ankle instability (CAI).

In the National Athletic Trainers' Association Position Statement: Conservative Management and Prevention of Ankle Sprains in Athletes, they note that, "Chronic ankle instability is characterized by residual symptoms that include feelings of giving way and instability as well as repeated ankle sprains, persistent weakness, pain during activity, and self-reported disability."

According to the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care, between 10-20% of individuals with ankle sprains will develop CAI. For athletes, this percentage skyrockets, with 74% reporting at least one residual symptom up to four years after injury. Thousands of people are affected by CAI, and in order to properly assess and treat the condition, clinicians should consider adopting technology designed to measure balance and time-to-boundary (TTB).

In this article from LER, the authors touch upon the relationship between balance and CAI: "Multiple studies have suggested that individuals with CAI have balance deficits; and several indicate that balance training in different populations produces improvements in measures of postural control. Given the extent to which balance training is included in rehabilitation protocols for CAI, it is important for clinicians to better understand balance, balance deficits, and the protocols used to address this issue."

Typically, balance assessments are based on measurements of center of pressure displacement; but, more recently, TTB has been utilized because of its ability to discriminate postural control deficits present in subjects with CAI.

Time-to-boundary is a spatiotemporal (range and velocity) measurement that estimates the time an individual has to make postural corrections in order to maintain balance. To learn how you can use TTB to objectively assess and manage CAI in your practice, download our free whitepaper, "New Technology for Objective Assessment of Chronic Ankle Instability."

Incorporating a pressure measurement solution into your arsenal of performance tools is essential for gaining valuable insight into balance deficits and for tracking progress in balance over time. Because of its ability to influence the development of chronic ankle instability, balance should be objectively measured and monitored in order to minimize the risk of repeated ankle injuries and ultimately CAI.