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POPSHow to fix bad ankles More: Why should balance training prevent ankle sprains? The reasons are both obvious and quite subtle. Until recently, clinicians thought that ankle sprains were primarily a matter of overstretched, traumatized ligaments. Tape or brace the joint, relieve pressure on the sore tissue, and a person should heal fully, they thought. But that approach ignored the role of the central nervous system, which is intimately tied in to every joint. “There are neural receptors in ligaments,” says Jay Hertel, an associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Virginia and an expert on the ankle. When you damage the ligament, “you damage the neuro-receptors as well. Your brain no longer receives reliable signals” from the ankle about how your ankle and foot are positioned in relation to the ground. Your proprioception — your sense of your body’s position in space — is impaired. You’re less stable and more prone to falling over and re-injuring yourself.
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POPSPosture Makes Perfect: Correcting postural misalignments helps ease chronic pain
More: Back, neck and shoulder pain frequently occur when the body tries to compensate for weak or underused muscles. “Lower back pain is the most common complaint from new clients… vertigo…TMJ (jaw pain), rotator cuff problems and neck, shoulder, knee and foot pain.” He adds that while many patients are at first skeptical as to the relationship between posture and, say, jaw pain, they often feel relief after just one session. After a thorough postural evaluation from an Egoscue therapist, the client receives a “menu,” or series of exercises and stretches called E-cises. While the specific exercises often do not appear directly related to the pain site—for example, thigh strengtheners and/or an upper back stretch may be prescribed for lower back pain—they are based on the muscles that are currently moving improperly. Muscles that may be compensating or substituting for other muscles now return to performing their proper roles, which in turn relieves the pain.
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