Your ankles play a key role in your body’s ability to walk, run, climb and move, so when your ankle hurts, even the simplest activities can suddenly become difficult. Ankle pain can be due to rolling your ankle when playing sports, missing the curb while walking, or simply from spending more time on your feet. There are steps you can take to help prevent or recover from ankle injuries and pain.
Why Does My Ankle Hurt?
There are many reasons that your ankle might hurt. Some of the more common causes of ankle pain are as follows:
- Ankle Sprains: An ankle sprain occurs when the ligaments that stabilize the ankle are torn or stretched, this is often caused by twisting or rolling your ankle. With this type of injury you may notice, swelling, bruising, tenderness, the ankle feeling weak or unstable, or difficulty putting weight on the foot. Even a mild strain can take time to recover and returning to activities too quickly can increase your risk of reinjury or making the injury worse.
- Overuse: A sudden increase in activities, such as walking or running can put more stress on the ligaments and tendons of the ankle. It is better to increase the activity levels more gradually, when possible, to allow your body time to adjust to the new demands.
- Tendon Issues: Tendons connect muscle to bone. They can also be the root cause of ankle pain. Repetitive stress, along with lowered recovery time can irritate the tendon causing tendonitis. Swelling, pain, stiffness are common symptoms of tendon inflammation.
- Foot Mechanics: Your feet influence how your ankles can handle stress inward. Excessive pronation or turning inward can put stress on the inside of the ankle, and the excessive strain can travel up the ankle and lower extremity.
How Can I Prevent Ankle Injuries?
In fact, you don’t have to avoid activity altogether to prevent ankle injury. Staying active can help strengthen your muscles and improve mobility in the long run. Here are a few simple ways to lower ankle injury risk and reduce discomfort or likelihood of pain.
- Build up Activity Slowly: Don’t go too far too fast. If you are starting a new activity, try gradually increasing the intensity or amount of time. Give your body time to adapt and recover between sessions.
- Strengthen Your Ankles and Lower Extremities: Strong muscles provide a stable base. Some simple exercises are calf raises, single leg standing, heel drops, or balancing exercises. Start with exercises that feel manageable and gradually increase the intensity.
- Supportive Footwear: Look for footwear that provides the appropriate support for your activity, it should feel secure at the heel, have enough room for your toes to wiggle, and arch support. The sole of the shoe should match the activity, for instance a court shoe is designed so that you can pivot and run easily on a gym floor, verses a hiking shoe has extra thick tread to grip the muddy, uneven ground. A shoe that works well for one activity may not work well for another.
- Warm Up Before and After: Get your ankles ready with gentle stretches and small movements. Calf stretches, ankle circles and flexing and extending your toes are great movements to allow the muscles to warm up before the activity and great for cooling down the muscles afterwards.
- Ice After Activity: Use a cold compress on the ankle after activity to prevent swelling in the area.
- Ankle Braces: Ankle braces can range from compressive sleeves to rigid bracing material. The goal of many ankle braces are to support the tendons, ligaments and muscles of the ankle, and provide mild compression to reduce swelling.
Don’t Ignore Ongoing Ankle Pain
It is tempting to brush off or push through ankle pain, especially when life is busy, but persistent pain or feeling like your ankle is going to give away deserves attention. Getting the right advice early may help you avoid turning a small problem into one that keeps you side lined. Ankle pain or injury doesn’t have to mean giving up the activities you enjoy. Start with manageable activities, wear supportive footwear, ankle braces if needed, strengthen the muscles around the ankle and lower extremity. And remember, you are not alone, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. At BioPed, a clinician can assess your lower extremities, discuss your concerns and help to determine the best treatment plan for your individual needs. Take care of your ankles today so you can keep doing more of what you love tomorrow.
