Say you have chronic pain in your Achilles tendon and your doctor wants to operate. He read in a medical journal that surgery has a 90 percent success rate. The success rate sounds good, but is it a number that can be trusted?

These authors reviewed 26 studies that reported on Achilles surgery between 1969 and 1999. The authors looked at the studies' scientific methods--the way they got their information--in order to figure out whether these published success rates were reliable. 

You're on the right track by using ice and a wrap for your ankle. Rest, ice, compression, and elevation--known as the RICE method--can reduce pain and swelling in your ankle and help get you back up to speed.

Passive joint mobilization is a technique commonly used by physical therapists to reduce pain and improve movement in an injured joint. Passive means the movements are done by an outside force, usually by the therapist. Joint mobilizationrefers to a gentle movement of the surfaces of the injured joint. To help with your sprained ankle, the therapist will probably hold your ankle steady with one hand and lightly glide the joint surfaces of the ankle with the other.

RICE stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation. It's a recipe to reduce pain and swelling and get you back on your feet.

Ankle sprains happen often in sports, especially to runners and athletes in jumping sports. To treat an ankle sprain, RICE--or rest, ice, compression, and elevation--is just what the doctor ordered. But can anything else be done to get you back on your feet more quickly?

When you sprain your ankle, you lose the ability to fully bend your foot and ankle upward. When this movement, technically known as dorsiflexion, is painful, standing and walking on the injured ankle can hurt.

Many people stop exercising after an injury. However, it is very important that you get back to some kind of exercise program. You may want to start with activities that keep weight off the ankle, such as swimming or biking. If you haven't been trying to rehabilitate your ankle, talk to your health care provider about what you can do. You may need physical therapy if your ankle hasn't been improving.

Maria L. Pugia, MPT, et al.

Ankle fusion surgery (also called arthrodesis) is a last-ditch effort to relieve pain in arthritic ankle joints. The surgery involves making the bones in a joint grow together, or fuse. This stops the bone ends from rubbing against each other and causing pain. However, fusion means that the ankle joint loses its ability to move.

Even though sprains of the outer (lateral) ankle ligaments are one of the more common types of injuries, opinions abound as to the best types of treatment. Over the years, treatments have ranged all the way from surgery to no treatment at all. Which treatments are best?

It's like getting paid for someone else's work. In a phenomenon called the crossover effect, the muscles of one ankle get stronger even when exercises are done only by the opposite ankle.

Rehabilitation programs have proven successful in helping people regain stability after an ankle sprain. A hallmark of ankle rehabilitation has been the use of proprioception exercises. Proprioception refers to the awareness of positioning and balance that is sort of like a sixth sense. Proprioception exercises are designed to help patients become aware of joint alignment and positioning. By improving proprioception, the joint's stability improves.