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Lateral ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries in athletics. Injury to lateral ankle ligaments can result in persistent instability of the ankle joint, known as functional ankle instability (FAI). Two methods of treating FAI are ankle taping and ankle bracing. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of ankle taping and ankle bracing on ankle joint kinematics and kinetics during a landing task. Methods: Seven individuals with FAI and seven healthy controls performed three landing trials in each of three conditions: control, taped and braced. Ground reaction forces and three-dimensional kinematics were collected simultaneously while participants performed single-leg step-off landing trials from a box with a height of 0.6m. Peak ankle joint angles and moments were calculated using customized software. Results: Individuals with FAI produced significantly smaller inversion moments compared to healthy controls (p = 0.006). Ankle stabilization did not significantly alter ankle joint angles, ranges of motion or moments. Discussion: The present findings suggest that individuals with FAI exhibit unique ankle biomechanics independent of ankle stabilization modality. Future research may seek to investigate the multi-joint biomechanical adaptations associated with ankle stabilization in individuals with FAI compared to healthy controls.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is associated with altered gait biomechanics. No previous research study has investigated the effect of activity on muscle activation in individuals with PAD. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of PAD on muscle activation in response to a ten-minute walking task. METHODS: Ten healthy young adults, ten healthy older adults and ten individuals with PAD performed a ten-minute treadmill walking trial at a self-selected velocity. Surface EMG was recorded from the vastus lateralis and medial gastrocnemius during five steps in the first and tenth minutes of the walking trial. EMG signals were rectified and smoothed using the root mean squared (RMS) with a 20 ms smoothing window. Peak RMS EMG and median frequencies (MdF) were calculated. Mixed-model ANOVAs with Tukey’s post-hoc was used to determine effects of group and activity on peak RMS EMG and MdF. RESULTS: PAD was associated with significantly greater reductions in MdF of the vastus lateralis compared to healthy young and healthy older adults. No significant differences were observed in peak RMS EMG. DISCUSSION: PAD is associated with exaggerated rates of fatigue in the quadriceps but not the gastrocnemius. Efficacy of evidence-based therapeutic interventions should be further investigated.