Ankle pain
introduction
Ankle pain is pain that is due to the daily stressesthat the foot is exposed to are relatively common.
They arise from the ankle, almost continuously as the upper part of the ankle Forces exposed, whether when running, walking, or standing. On closer inspection, we have two ankle per side, the inner ankle, at the lower end of the shin, and the outer ankle, at the lower end of the fibula.
Since the outer ankle is a little stronger, it is commonly referred to as "the ankle". However, both ankles can be equally affected by injury or pain. How this happens and which therapies are possible will be clarified below.
Cause of ankle pain
Ankle pain can have many causes. If the pain occurs immediately after jogging, the reason is relatively clear: overexertion or "twisting" the ankle can lead to ankle pain while running. The ligaments that surround the ankle are exposed to high forces. If we buckle while walking on the forest floor, the ligaments are suddenly overstretched or - in the worst case - torn.
A torn ankle ligament is associated with severe ankle pain, immediate swelling, and restricted mobility.
Many patients report that they even heard the ligaments "click" when they were twisted. In the majority of cases, a ligament tear occurs on the outside, i.e. when the foot bends inwards and the outside is overstretched. Within the first few hours there is a very strong swelling, the ankle turns reddish due to the exuding blood, until after a few days the blood settles on the sole of the foot and turns it black-bluish.
In addition to the acute event of the ligament tear, ankle pain can also be caused by less acute events.
The best example of this are unsuitable running shoes that permanently press on the ankles.
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My name is dr. Nicolas Gumpert. I am a specialist in orthopedics and the founder of .
Various television programs and print media report regularly about my work. On HR television you can see me every 6 weeks live on "Hallo Hessen".
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Athletes (joggers, soccer players, etc.) are particularly often affected by diseases of the foot. In some cases, the cause of the foot discomfort cannot be identified at first.
Therefore, the treatment of the foot (e.g. Achilles tendonitis, heel spurs, etc.) requires a lot of experience.
I focus on a wide variety of foot diseases.
The aim of every treatment is treatment without surgery with a complete recovery of performance.
Which therapy achieves the best results in the long term can only be determined after looking at all of the information (Examination, X-ray, ultrasound, MRI, etc.) be assessed.
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Further information about myself can be found at Dr. Nicolas Gumpert
In the shoe store, a shoe can fit at first and only cause pain after being used for a while. Therefore, when trying on you should not only go "up and down", but also the shoe according to the later loads getting tested. In addition, shoes literally have to be broken in before they have properly adjusted to the foot.
In the initial phase, you shouldn't expect a marathon route with new shoes, but rather run it on short distances. Permanent irritation of the ankles and ligaments can lead to Scarring of the ligaments, which in turn restrict the range of motion in the Ankle joint have as a consequence.
In the worst case, there is a risk of permanent stiffening of the ankle.
Fractures can also cause ankle pain, but the force must be relatively large. At a Torn ligament can pull out bone fragments, but this is not the norm. In this case, surgical treatment must be carried out, as the Wedge fragments and can rub over the fine articular surfaces in the ankle. It then comes to the so-called Pseudoarthrosis, a change in the joint surface caused by wear and tear, due to untreated, traumatic effects.
Enter the ankle pain In the morning so it is important to determine how long the pain sensation persists after getting up.
If sports or trauma injuries can be ruled out, ankle pain is in combination with Morning stiffness of a disease from the rheumatic form circle to think. If the pain and immobility last for less than 15 minutes, it may be the onset of osteoarthritis, i.e. a disease of the joints caused by wear and tear. However, these are typically found on several joints at the same time and are not limited to the ankle joint.
Ankle pain after exercise
After all kinds of sport, pain in the area of the inner or outer ankle can occur.
Often, excessive strain is to blame for the muscles in the ankle area being so stressed that they complain of severe pain after exercising. Often the wrong or lack of warm-up before exercise is the main cause, sometimes incorrectly adjusted shoes or chronic stress while running.
Regular Pain in the ankle after exercising should alert and not just be accepted. It could also be tears in ligaments and muscles, which can then tear completely with continued exercise.
The acute treatment is by means of cooling or anti-inflammatory pain gels carried out. If that is not enough, anti-inflammatory pain treatment can also be used Ibuprofen or Diclofenac respectively.
In any case, it is important to minimize the burdensome causes, so first to reduce the sporting activities until the pain has subsided. If pain in the ankle area recurs after exercise, an orthopedic surgeon should definitely be consulted. He will do a gait analysis and find out whether there is an incorrect load.
Furthermore, he will take an X-ray to assess the bone situation in the ankle area. If no action shows a cause, magnetic resonance imaging should be performed.
Ankle pain after jogging
Inner and outer ankle discomfort can occur during or after jogging. In most cases, the main reason for this is incorrect loading or overloading of the muscles that have not been warmed up beforehand.
Shoes that have not been properly fitted or that have not been worn in and that have raised the side margins too high can also lead to irritation of the ankle region and thus often long-lasting pain.
Around Ankle pain To prevent during and after jogging, it should always be ensured that the muscles have been warmed up well and the ligaments have been stretched. It is also important to ensure that there is no incorrect orthopedic stress while running.
Here it is advisable to have a running analysis carried out by the orthopedic technician. This makes it clear whether there is an incorrect load and whether an orthopedic shoe insert is necessary.
Ankle pain that occurs after jogging can be treated very well with cooling compresses or ice packs. The application should only take place for a short time and should be repeated more often in a row. If that is not enough, a pain reliever gel, e.g. Voltaren® can be applied to the sore ankle area.
Here, too, the application should be repeated several times. A Bandaging of the ankle. If the pain does not decrease significantly after a few days, or if there is swelling in the ankle area, an orthopedic surgeon should be consulted.
Symptoms
Ankle pain can be chronic or acute. In acute cases, the patient can usually identify the cause himself. If you twist your ankle while running, followed by severe pain in the ankle, it may be a torn ligament. Symptoms here are suddenly shooting, violent pain in the ankle, which radiates flatly. Immediate swelling and restricted mobility are the result.
An untreated ligament tear results in permanent instability of the ankle after weeks. Patients then often complain of twisting the affected side excessively often, and feel marked instability and insecurity in the ankle.
Chronic processes, such as permanent rubbing of the shoe on the ankle, initially lead to abrasions of the skin with blistering in the corresponding area. In addition, the ligaments are irritated, overstretched and scarred. With pressure and force, the ankle pain worsens, which in this case is more punctual than noticeable. In the long term, scarring can result in restricted mobility. The task of the ligaments is to stabilize the ankle joint, so damage to the ligaments has far-reaching consequences for the overall stability of the foot.
Read more on the topic: swollen ankles
Ankle pain on the inside
Inner ankle pain can have many causes.
First, a distinction is made between traumatic and non-traumatic causes.
Traumatic causes of pain in the inner ankle are the classic twisting of the leg or foot when running or stumbling.
Accidents such as car or bicycle accidents can also lead to traumatic pain in the inner ankle.
Read more about this under Pain in the inner ankle
Atraumatic causes of pain in the area of the medial ankle are usually pain caused by excessive strain and incorrect strain. Unfamiliar movements without prior warming up or improperly fitted shoes are the most common causes of atraumatic pain in the inner ankle.
The actual pain in the medial ankle area, whether traumatic or atraumatic, can either be triggered by the bones or by muscles that are present in this area. However, pain in the inner ankle area is particularly common due to overloaded or injured ligaments.
You might also be interested in that: Pain in the outer ankle
Diagnosis of ankle pain
The diagnosis of pain in the ankle is first made clinically on the basis of the medical history. If a chronic event is suspected, further clarification is carried out by examining the blood and determining the inflammation parameters in the blood. For sports injuries, an ultrasound machine and X-ray imaging are the methods of choice. Torn ligaments can be displayed quickly and easily with both devices. If no cause can be found, the ankle pain is probably due to an incorrect load caused by unsuitable footwear while running.
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- Ankle swollen on one side
Ankle pain in the morning
After getting up there may be pain in the area of the lower leg and the inner or outer ankle.
Sometimes the cause is traumatic. With the so-called deep sleepers, it can happen that they do not notice when they sleep at night when they hold the foot in a bent position and thus greatly overstretch the ligaments and muscles.
The acutely triggered pain stimulus is not perceived by these people. Only after waking up in the morning is this traumatic pain felt.
Non-traumatic causes can be inflammatory in nature. So are joint pain with the so-called rheumatoid arthritis to fear.
Classically, this is pain in the large joints (such as. Shoulder joints, wrists, knee joints and ankles too). Very characteristic is the morning pain, which in most cases disappears during the day.
It would also be very important to observe whether joint swelling also occurs in the area of the ankle. This would also apply to a Rheumatoid arthritis speak.
therapy
If you suspect one Torn ligament Anyone affected can initiate a pre-clinical therapy with simple means:
To do this, use the "PECH" rule on. It is easy to remember as each of the letters stands for a treatment measure: P for "break", that is, the ankle should not be strained or moved. E for "ice cream", the ankle should be cooled. To do this, a Cool pack wrapped in a kitchen towel, and placed on the ankle. Important: the cool pack not directly on the skin as this can damage the tissue! C for "Compression", that is pressure. This prevents the ankle from swelling too much as the tissue is compressed and less blood escapes from the injured vessels H stands for "elevate"to encourage blood and fluid flow from the tissue towards the core of the body.
The PECH rule also applies to all types of sports injuries Application, and is the be-all and end-all of pre-clinical care.
After the above points have been applied, it can be transported to the hospital or to the doctor. There the ligament is torn with a rail that should be worn 24 hours a day if possible. Since it consists of plastic and synthetic fiber elements, it can be removed at any time, for example for showering. There are different rail systems, but they differ little in their function. The immobilization then takes place for 4-6 weeks, then you can begin with careful loading. The joint is then usually a little stiff and immobile, but this should go away after a few weeks of movement. Is it a Ligament stretch, rest is usually sufficient. The transition between stretching, cracking and rupture is mostly fluid. A splint is often prescribed here for safety.
If the ankle pain occurs when you are resting or in the morning, you have to rheumatic, or arthritic Process to be clarified. These are combined with a treatment concept consisting of physical therapy, Painkillers, and targeted Muscle building treated. The therapy is lengthy and can only be done symptomatically. If it's just an abrasion or blister that's causing the Ankle pain caused, then a Ointment bandage created. Ointments such as Bepanthen, which have a high fat content and accelerate the regeneration of the skin, are suitable for this. A bubble should just below sterile conditions be pricked, otherwise the infection risk is too high. They are especially recommended for treating small blisters Blister plasterwhich not only plump up the blisters but also dry them out.
forecast
While it is at arthritis and arthrosis chronic events that can currently only be treated symptomatically and not causally Sports injuries injuries are relatively uncomplicated. Usually several weeks of the Protectionto restore full resilience and stability.
However, jogging should be paused for some time in any case, otherwise the complaints chronic can be. Rheumatism and arthritis can be treated largely painlessly with appropriate drug therapy.
prophylaxis
Ankle pain can be prevented by not "beyond the pain" trained and the body's signals taken seriously. Appropriate footwear helps as well as proper warm-up, stretching of the ligaments and a sensible jogging route. If there is already a corresponding injury, you can also stabilizing bandages that compress muscles and ligaments tightly and have a massaging effect when moved. These are available relatively cheaply from specialist retailers. Care should be taken to ensure that these sit tightly and do not slip, as otherwise the stabilizing effect is not given.
