The effectiveness of exercise on recovery and clinical outcomes of soft tissue injuries of the leg, ankle, and foot: A systematic review by the Ontario Protocol for Traffic Injury Management (OPTIMa) Collaboration

6 randomized controlled trials were included in this systematic review for the purpose of analyzing the effect of exercise in the management of soft tissue injuries of the leg, ankle, and foot. The results showed that for recent lateral ankle sprain, rehab exercises initiated immediately after injury were as effective as a program initiated one week after injury and that supervised progressive exercise in addition to education/advice lead to similar outcomes as education/advice alone. For Achilles tendinopathy (>2 months) eccentric exercises were shown to be more effective than a brace yet less effective than acupuncture. For patients with plantar heel pain, static stretching of calf muscles lead to similar outcomes to sham ultrasound while static stretching of the plantar fascia demonstrated to be of benefit when compared to shockwave therapy .