Effects of Compression by Means of Sports Socks on the Ankle Kinesthesia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of compression by means of sports socks (CG socks) on the ankle knesthesia. Thirteen subjects were participated. In order to accomplish the purpose, we assessed a position sense, movement sense, force sense, and sensorymotor function during under three different conditions: subjects wore the normal socks that are distributed generally (normal socks condition), wore the CG socks (CG socks condition), and did not wear any socks (barefoot condition). The position sense and force sense were assessed in a reproduction task of ankle joint angle and force output during plantar/dorsiflexion, respectively. The movement sense was assessed by the threshold of detection for passive movement. The sensory motor function was assessed during our original Kinetic–Equilibrating task. The results showed that the movement sense, force sense, and sensorymotor function significantly improved in the CG socks condition compared to the other two conditions. These results suggested that the compression by means of the CG socks might improve the perception of the changes of joint angle and the extent of force output. Therefore, improvement of these senses enhanced the sensorymotor function based on these senses.