It is common to experience aches and pains at the front, back and/or two sides of the ankle after an injury.  Sometimes, pain can be felt in the arch of your foot or heel. If pain and injury persists at the ankle, it can be frustrating to experience bouts of swelling.  It is also common for active individuals to suffer overuse aches and pains while training for a competition.  

The foot and ankle can be complicated joints to understand as there are 26 bones, 33 joints, and many muscles to account for.  Ankle sprains are the most common foot and ankle and sport-related injury for which individuals seek medical care.  Plantar fasciitis is the most common foot problem that patients seek medical care for.  It is also prevalent for active and inactive individuals to deal with achilles tendon issues.

 It is very common when someone starts to experience foot and ankle pain, the initial thought is to rest the foot and ankle and limit activity.  Rest may provide some relief, but then a week or two down the road, the foot and ankle starts to hurt again.  Often enough, a runner might shut down activity thinking it would help, but then trying to resume running again continues to be difficult and limited.  Some people will even try taking an anti-inflammatory, and get short term relief, but again are left frustrated when improvement is not maintained. These are common scenarios that we hear.

Do you feel frustrated and feel that your only option is to take anti-inflammatories, pain medication, get an injection or have surgery?

Common complaints from people with foot and ankle pain

When one develops foot and ankle pain, there can be many different reasons why. 

Some common complaints include:

• A persistent ache at the location of pain

• Frustrating fluctuating bouts of swelling

• Stiffness and pain in the morning when taking your first steps

• Difficulty with standing or walking for extended time

• Difficulty with pivoting to change directions

• Difficulty with going up and down stairs

• Having to stop a workout early due to foot and ankle pain

• Stiffness and loss of motion at the foot and ankle

• Feeling of weakness and unsteadiness at the foot and ankle

Do you feel that you may just have to live with the pain and are hoping that it will go away on its own, or hope that it won’t affect the activities you love, such as running, working out, or being able to go for a walk or hike?

What causes foot and ankle pain?

Foot and ankle pain can be caused by many different things.  In an aged foot and ankle with a prior injury, it can be frustrating that arthritis of the foot or ankle becomes an issue.  Sports injuries can result in ligament injuries or stress fractures.  Unfortunately, trauma can result in fractures or tendon injuries.  In addition, overuse injuries such as achilles tendinitis can be painful and can limit an individual from performing a number of different activities.

Common Foot and Ankle Diagnoses:

• Ankle sprains

• Foot and Ankle Arthritis

• Metatarsalgia

• Achilles tendon strain/tear

• Other muscle strains/tears

• Tendinitis/Tendinopathy

• Stress Fractures

• Ankle and Foot Fractures

• Plantar Fasciitis

• Post-operative foot and ankle (lateral ankle reconstruction, ankle replacement, post-fracture)

How can my foot and ankle pain get better?

Your physical therapist performs an assessment to determine the cause of symptoms and identifies your limits in range of motion and strength.  These findings and thorough discussion with you will determine what things are difficult for you to perform and a plan of action is put together.  Physical therapists treatment is tailored to each individual’s needs with the main focus being to find the correct safe exercises for you to perform to improve your pain and function.  Hands on treatment such as joint mobilization (movements that guide your joint motion), and soft tissue work help to guide the recovery process.  In some situations, other modes of treatment such as electric stimulation, cupping, taping, etc. can also help to guide the process forward.  The goal is to decrease inflammation, improve your motion, improve your strength, and improve your function.