Getting a sharp pain in your ankle? Does your ankle click from time to time? This may be caused by an ankle impingement. Before you panic, we’ll provide you with some information about this condition and how we can help get you back to what you love doing pain-free!
What is an ankle impingement?
An ankle impingement develops when there is repetitive stress to the ankle resulting in compression of the bony and/or soft tissue structures. In some cases, a bone spur may form! Therefore, pain at the front or behind the ankle that increases with weight-bearing activity (ie: walking or running) may be due to an ankle impingement.
What are the symptoms?
Your symptoms may be the following:
- Pain at the front of your ankle
- Pain behind your ankle
- Pain often described as either being a dull/ache or sharp/acute
- Swelling over the affected area
- Ankle stiffness
- Wearing flat shoes or being bare-footed when walking may aggravate pain
What causes ankle impingement?
- Recent or recurrent ankle sprains
- Increased BMI
- Foot posture
- Muscle tightness
- Muscle weakness
- Front of ankle: more common in gymnasts, cheerleading/tumbling-type activity
- Behind ankle: more common in ballet dancers, footballers/activities on ‘tippy-toes’
How can we help?
There are a variety of treatment options that we can offer to help you. These include:
- Activity modification (doing more of things that don’t flare up your pain and less of the things that do)
- Ice and/or anti-inflammatory medication to settle down the pain
- Footwear assessment and advice
- Reducing muscle tightness and improving muscle strength
- Foot mobilisation therapy to help re-align the joints
- Orthotics to reduce load on the ankle and improve foot function
- Recommend a surgical opinion if deemed necessary
Sound familiar? Got pain that isn’t going away and feel like this could be it? For individual advice regarding your feet, feel free to contact us or book an appointment online.
