Effects of ankle strengthening exercise program on an unstable supporting surface on proprioception and balance in adults with functional ankle instability

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of ankle strengthening exercise applied on unstable supporting surfaces on the proprioceptive sense and balance in adults with functional ankle instability. As for the study method, 30 adults with functional ankle instability were randomly assigned to an ankle strengthening exercise group and a stretching group on unstable supporting surfaces, and the interventions were implemented for 40 min. Before and after the interventions, a digital dual inclinometer was used to measure the proprioceptive sense of the ankle, the Balancia program was used to measure static balance ability, and the functional reach test was used to measure dynamic balance ability. In the results, both proprioceptive sense and static dynamic balance ability were significantly different between before and after the intervention in the experimental group (P<0.05). When such results are put together, it can be seen that ankle strengthening exercise applied on unstable supporting surfaces may be presented as an effective treatment method for enhancing the proprioceptive sense and balance ability in adults with functional ankle instability.