Understanding my Ankle Pain and why it hurts

Why does my ankle or foot hurt?

Did you roll your ankle at sport?

Was it minor or did a you have a ligament tear? Was there bruising after rolling your ankle?

Is it just a sprain or a fracture? Did your ankle swell up like and egg, or a balloon?

In deciding if it’s fractured, could you walk on it straight away or soon after?

Often your foot will roll in under the ankle (inversion sprain) usually ending up with a ligament sprain.

We often also assess for a tendon strain (peroneus), syndesmosis sprain or potentially a fracture (avulsion or fibula).

Syndesmosis sprain is often referred to as a high ankle sprain. It’s when the ligament between the shin bones gets stretched. These take longer to recover. Common in parachuting, landing heavily on the heel which is pushed up vertically, or just from heavy ankle sprains rolling off a defenders foot in netball, or of a curb celebrating later!

A midfoot sprain, occurs when you roll over your foot and it flexes too far and the pain is often ontop of your foot.

We also need to watch for base of 5th metatarsal fractures on the outside of the foot where the tendon attaches and ends up with an avulsion, or a fracture from twisting through the bone, common in dancers twisting in pointe.

What can we do about it?

Jenkins Physiotherapy uses hands on manual therapy, exercises, dry needling, advice and ongoing recommendations to help your body recover. We can also recommend the right supportive bracing when it’s needed.

We want to find exercises that you can perform to help you back to normal gradually, however sometimes strapping and holding it together is the best intervention sometimes too.

We look for ways to strengthen affected joints and ligaments, and progressively restore active range of movements, balance and confidence.

If it’s too sore often ice, painkillers and supportive brace, tape or bandages are needed.

Flare ups can happen, but we manage that and get going again.

How can I get started?

Simply reach out to our friendly admin team, or go to our booking page and schedule an appointment at Jenkins Physiotherapy, Madeley in the Perth northern suburbs.

Remember your health fund card, or any referral documents from your GP or specialist to present to admin on arrival.

Wear something comfortable, so that we can assess the area that is of main concern.