PURPOSE: Stabilise the ankle joint (talocrural joint and subtalar joint) against excessive lateral rotation (supination and pronation) without impairing normal ankle joint movement (plantar and dorsal flexion). For severe sprains, ‘stirrups’, ‘ankle locks’ and possibly ‘figure 8s’ are applied, but for mild sprains ‘stirrups’ are sufficient. The tape is initially used all day and is gradually reduced over the following 3 months. Finally, the tape is only used for particularly risky loads.
TAPING: During taping, the foot is held in a neutral position with the foot at a 90 degree angle from the lower leg. First, one or two ‘tape anchors’ are placed around the lower leg 10-20 cm above the ankle joint (A). Then apply 3 stirrups. These are started from the anchor on the inside of the lower leg if it is the outer ligaments that are damaged (95%), and vice versa in the rare cases where it is the inner ligament that is damaged. The stirrup is inserted under the heel and pulled up onto the anchor on the outside of the lower leg. When applying the stirrup, the outer edge of the foot is pushed up slightly, while at the same time pulling the edge of the foot up slightly with the tape.
A stirrup (B) is placed with the back half of the external malleolus in the centre under the tape. A stirrup (C) is placed with the front half of the outer ankle knuckle centred under the tape. An oblique stirrup (D) is started from the anchor on the front of the lower leg obliquely down over the lower leg over the front half of the medial malleolus, under the foot and over the front half of the lateral malleolus and obliquely across the lower leg up to the anchor. Finally, finish with another strip of tape on top of the ‘anchor’ A.
