(Dr. Brian Sokalsky, DO, is at the helm of Jersey Shore Sports Medicine in Ocean City and is a board certified family physician with special training in sports medicine. Once per month, Glory Days Magazine publisher Dave O’Sullivan will talk with Dr. Sokalsky about various sports injuries, treatments and prevention methods.) Competitive cheerleading and gymnastics has exploded in popularity during the last decade, with high school cheerleaders and gymnasts trying ever-more acrobatic stunts to wow the crowd. This, Dr. Sokalsky said, has led to a spike in ankle sprains among these types of athletes. He said he has been seeing a lot of sprained ankles among cheerleaders and gymnasts this winter, and the way he goes about treating them is a little bit different than the average family doctor. “For the most part they are similar to basketball injuries. They are what we call inversion sprains, where they roll the ankle, like when a basketball player lands on another player’s foot. With cheerleaders and gymnasts, instead of landing on someone’s foot they land awkwardly off tumbles or jumps,” Sokalsky said. 
Brian Sokalsky is a doctor specializing in sports medicine. His office is located in Ocean City. To contact Dr. Sokalsky, call 609-545-8553 “For the younger ones, instead of spraining their ankle they get a fracture through their growth plate. That takes a little bit longer to heal. It is a fracture through the growth plate, so the x-rays are typically normal, but they have pain or tenderness on the bone itself instead of the ball of the ankle.” Dr. Sokalsky specializes in sports medicine, therefore, he understands the mentality of the athlete who wants to return to competition as quickly as possible. With that in mind, he said he prefers aggressive physical therapy as opposed to simply immobilizing the ankle and waiting 4 to 6 weeks for it to heal. “I believe in early movement, so I avoid immobilization and things like boots and casts as often as I can. We have a very high success rate. It depends on the severity of the sprain, but I can typically get the patient back to play rather quickly with an aggressive course of bracing and physical therapy,” Sokalsky said. “I think doctors who work primarily with athletes have a better understanding of the motivation of athletes and the pressures of a season. For a high school kid, their season is only two or three months, so if they are put in a boot for four weeks they’ve already lost half their season. So we understand the time frames of season. We work with the athlete around their schedule to get them prepared for whatever competition they are focusing on.” Dr. Sokalsky said the key to returning to competition quickly, and successfully, is movement. He said it’s important to strengthen the ligaments around the ankle as the healing process is taking place, so that when it’s time for the athlete to return to competition they have already begun the rehab process. “The vast majority of ankle sprains don’t need surgery. Working as a sports medicine doctor, I tend to be more aggressive in treatment and rehab, so I typically do not put them in a fracture boot or cast. I don’t immobilize the ankle, I try to keep the ankle moving so they don’t develop stiffness,” Sokalsky said. “Then, as the pain subsides, I like to get them into physical therapy quickly to regain the stability of the ankle to prevent recurrence of the injury.” Dr. Sokalsky said the thing for parents and coaches to be on the lookout for is whether or not their athlete is having discomfort with the ankle. If they are favoring the ankle that wasn’t sprained, or limping in any way, Sokalsky said that is a sign the athlete isn’t ready to return. “The most important thing is, if the athlete is not able to significantly support weight or if they have any tenderness over the bone, you want to get the ankle checked out and make sure there is no fracture,” Sokalsky said. “When you’re talking about getting back to play, you can safely return when you can run, jump, cut and all those things at full speed. If they are still favoring the ankle they aren’t ready to go back to competition.” For more information, visit www.jerseyshoresportsmedicine.com [adsense]
Dr. Sokalsky: Right treatment plan can limit time out of game action because of sprained ankles
