News

Injuries to ankle ligaments are the number one sports injury. The treatment of acute ankle ligament injuries has been under discussion for a number of years now, the question being tape or brace? The University Medical Centre in Utrecht has now published the results of their research into the use of braces and tape for ankle injuries. This research has revealed that an ankle brace is at least as effective as ankle tape.

In the study, 157 patients between the ages of 18 and 70 were divided into two groups. One group was given Push med Ankle Braces and the other group was provided with tape to treat their ankle injuries. Both groups were treated for a period of four weeks.

There were no significant differences found between the two groups with regards to swelling, joint function and active stability. The tape group scored slightly better on the anterior drawer test, which rates passive stability. Otherwise there were no significant differences found in the chances of a recurrence (one year after the injury), after being treated with the Push med Ankle Brace compared with the tape and no significant differences were found with regards to pain complaints.

It can be concluded that the Push med Ankle Brace can be regarded as a valuable alternative to tape when treating ankle injuries.

(Source: Kemler et al. (2015). Effects of soft bracing or taping on lateral ankle sprain: a non-randomised controlled trial evaluating recurrence rates and residual symptoms at one year. Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, 8:13.)

As an addendum to the above results, we would like to point out that the brace is user-friendly, skin- friendly, it can be removed when showering/bathing and the brace can be used for supplementary therapy. All these benefits offer advantages over the tape.