Types of Ankle and Foot Pain
The ankle joint is a highly susceptible joint in the body to injury. Most ankle disorders can be prevented by warming up before physical activity. Poor alignment can predispose the joint to wear and tear and put excessive load on structures around the joint, and hence the ankle and foot pain.
The Ankle helps to balance and stabilize the body. The ankle joint has very less musculature around it and has to perform weight transfer and absorb ground reaction forces at the same time which challenges the dynamic stability of the joint. So the athletes need to have adequate strength of lower limb muscles to avoid ankle disorders.
Ankle disorders can result from damage to bone, muscle, or soft tissue. Common ankle disorders include:
- sprains (injury to ligaments)
- fractures
- bursitis (inflammation of the bursa)
- tendonitis (inflammation of the tendons)
- arthritis (chronic inflammation of joints)
The ankle is the most frequently injured joint in the body. According to research published by the Walter Reed Medical Center, more than 20,000 ankle sprains occur each day in the United States.
Conditions from injury to the anterior ankle structure
- High ankle sprain/ Syndesmosis injury
- Anterolateral impingement
- Arthritis of Ankle joint
- Osteoarthritis (OA)
- Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
- Osteochondritis dissecans of Talus
- Tibialis anterior tendonitis
The common conditions that can arise due to injury to structure on the “medial aspect of the ankle”
- Posterior tibialis tendonitis/rupture
- Tarsal tunnel syndrome
- Deltoid ligament rupture
Common conditions that can result from injuries to the structures on the posterior aspect of the ankle include:
- Posterior impingement(Os trigonum syndrome)
- Flexor hallusis longus tenosynovitis
- Achilles tendonitis/ rupture
- Retrocalcaneal bursitis
Conditions that can develop from injuries to the structures on the lateral aspect of the ankle include:
- Ankle sprain
- Rupture of the peroneal retinaculum
- Peroneal tendon subluxation/ rupture
- Peroneal tendonitis
Other common conditions that affect the ankle and foot are –
- Stress fracture of the talus
- Sinus tarsi syndrome
- Plantar fasciitis
- Flat feet
- Fractures around ankle
- Metatarsalgia