Research on the Causes of Lateral Ankle Ligament Sprain in Football Players and Sports Rehabilitation Prevention

Lateral ankle ligament sprain (LALS) is one of the most common sports injuries in football, accounting for about 16%-21% of all sports injuries. The incidence of ankle sprain among football players is approximately 2.06 cases per 1,000 hours of sports participation, and more than 85% of these cases are lateral ligament sprains. Therefore, systematically studying the causes of lateral ankle ligament sprain in football players and formulating scientific sports rehabilitation and prevention schemes are important measures for protecting athletes’ health and prolonging their sports careers. This study starts from a systematic review of the causal mechanisms of lateral ankle ligament sprain in football players and, on this basis, presents the therapeutic effects of three rehabilitation schemes: traditional Chinese medicine, Western medicine, and integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine. It also constructs a three-level prevention system as an evidence-based basis for formulating quantified return-to-sport criteria. This study organically integrates traditional Chinese medicine syndrome differentiation and classification with Western medicine staged rehabilitation for the first time. Integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine provides a rehabilitation pathway as evidence based on ankle sprain. A complete prevention system is constructed by covering primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention, and seven major categories of quantified return-to-sport criteria are formulated at the same time.