Rehab Back to Sports

Abstract

Without a plan, an athlete can have variable outcomes when trying to recover from a foot injury. Since the foot is the foundation of the lower kinetic chain, injury to the foot can ultimately cause secondary injuries more proximally up the chain. A Physical Therapist’s role is to guide the athlete body back to their pre-injury participation as quickly as possible, with a focus on residual defects that could compromise function.

A physical therapy guideline or protocol helps guide both the therapist and patient along an expected path of recovery and require clinical judgment from both the therapist and physician, for the foot protocols are multifaceted, taking into account every aspect of the athlete’s kinetic chain and the ultimate goal of return-to-sport.

Following the lead of our colleagues who focus on knee rehabilitation we have collaboratively developed foot and ankle protocols for common sport injures. These protocols are divided into time frames of recovery or phases. Sequential progression of Phases I–IV of a general foot injury and return-to-sport protocol are discussed. A patient example for each phase is given. Common frustrations and recommendations of each phase are also discussed. When a patient advances successfully through all phases of a rehabilitation protocol it is imperative that the final phase includes a collaborative partnership with the physical therapist and the athlete’s certified athletic trainer. Specific progressions related to return-to-sport are limited and generally are not specific to foot and ankle conditions, with most of the literature discussing ACL return-to-sport.