Introduction: Chronic ankle instability is a condition that occurs with different symptoms after one or more ankle sprains. People with chronic ankle instability often show functional and proprioceptive ankle deficits and poorer muscle strength around the ankle, however, less effective movement may also occur due to poor coordination and a poor sense of ankle position. It is recommended that somatosensory ankle exercise are included in physiotherapy treatment when treating people with chronic ankle instability. Purpose: The purpose of the diploma thesis was to determine the impact of somatosensory exercise on the improvement of proprioception and functional deficit in chronic ankle instability, based on a review of the literature. Methods: The literature search was performed in the PubMed database. The following english keywords and phrases were used in various combinations in the literature search: chronic ankle instability, proprioception, exercise, ankle instability, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation. Results: Fifty-eight articles were reviewed, 7 studies published between 2001 and 2019 were included in the literature review. Three studies found improvement in ankle proprioception and four studies found improvement in ankle functional ability in subjects with chronic ankle instability who performed somatosensory exercise in combination with ankle muscle strengthening exercise as well as in subjects with chronic ankle instability who performed other combined exercise programs together with physiotherapy treatment Discussion and conclusion: Literature review indicates that somatosensory exercise has positive effects on improving proprioception and functional ankle deficiency in people with chronic ankle instability.
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