I knew when our first A-FLEX prototype improved my own ankle stiffness by 4cm on the first use we had something that was too big not to share. I couldn’t help but think back to all those ankles I had treated in my Physiotherapy clinics with stubborn post-injury stiffness that never seemed to reach their full potential with their ankle range of motion.
But A-FLEX is changing that, and the joy I feel when I hear of other success stories.
When one of my old Physiotherapy colleagues, Theo Staines fractured his ankle playing football, he dropped heavy hints he’d like a go on the A-FLEX. I have continued to stay in close contact with Theo after leaving the NHS partly because he is a fellow Arsenal fan, but mainly because he’s a thoroughly good bloke. He is actually the chap who put me in contact with a couple of medical teams at both Championship and Premier League Football clubs whilst we were still in our prototyping stage. These contacts really helped us to validate the need for A-FLEX at the highest level of sport.
Anyway, he complained of the usual symptoms following his ankle fracture, achiness and stiffness both seemed to be limiting his function day to day and especially in the gym.
I dropped off an A-FLEX to him as he was progressing through his rehab. The next text I receive from him? His Knee-to-Wall score (a gold-standard measure of ankle dorsiflexion) had improved from 8cm to 13cm on the first use! That beats my record!
“I hope you’re going to put this in a testimonial for us!” I replied!
He’s not alone, A-FLEX is improving ankle stiffness on the first go almost universally in post-injury ankles when done at the right stage of rehab (once the ankle can tolerate pressure from a manual technique).
Gaby Halloran, 1st Team Physiotherapist at a Top flight Professional Rugby Club, and Senior Lecturer at a London University described A-FLEX as a “game changer for managing both acute and chronic ankle injuries.” Adding that “It's given some amazing results, for example, a player who is recovering after a lateral ankle reconstruction who went from a knee to wall (KTW) of -4cm to 6cm over the course of a week.”
So we’re changing the way ankle range of motion is being managed in elite sports and rehab settings alike. It’s producing superior results, more quickly, and all whilst allowing therapy clinicians to spend better spend their valuable time on more complex rehab tasks. I still have to pinch myself a little because I would never have imagined we’d be where we are right now. It’s been such an exciting journey, and to think it started off after improving my own KTW by 4cm using the first prototype in the back garden of my mum’s house in Buckinghamshire! – little did I know that would be unimpressive compared to the results we’ve seen since!
To learn more about the results of A-FLEX, and learn more about the many people it has helped, check it out here
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