One of the health problems that seriously affect the quality of life in our daily life is pain in the ankle. These pains may be due to damage to the foot anatomy due to disruptions in movement, as well as due to systemic diseases that can affect the whole body. At this point, in order to be successful in pain treatment, first of all, it is necessary to correctly determine which problem is the cause of ankle pain. For this, we need to know the causes of ankle pain and what is applied in its treatment.
What are the Causes of Ankle Pain?
Pain in the ankle can be caused by a wide variety of reasons. Among these reasons, injuries in the articular cartilages, tendons and muscles that make up the foot anatomy can be counted, as well as rheumatic or musculoskeletal diseases that concern the whole body. Determining and applying the right treatment depends on determining the cause of the pain and making the correct diagnosis.
Ankle sprains are one of the most common causes of ankle pain. The main problem here is that the ligaments and tendons that make up the anatomy of the foot are stretched and damaged during sprain. During the repair process of these structures, the tissues become inflamed and heat increase, discoloration, ankle pain and swelling (edema) are observed in the ankle. Usually, a sprain is caused by an inward rotation of the ankle. For this reason, the ligaments on the outside of the foot are often damaged.
Trauma and related damage to the musculoskeletal tissues (fractures, tears, etc.) may present as ankle pain. Depending on the trauma site, pain may also occur above the ankle.
Tarsal tunnel syndrome; is the compression of the posterior tibial nerve, which passes under the bony prominence (medial malleolus) on the inside of the ankle. It is the standing form of hand carpal tunnel syndrome. As a result of the compression of the nerve due to the surrounding tissues, the patient feels burning pain in the toes, heel and sole of the foot. Pain may wake you up at night; sometimes it can spread to the calves.
The same nerve is involved in the movement of the toes. limitation, numbness and tingling may also be felt in the foot and toe movements since it is responsible for the most.
It is a typical finding when the inner heel is pressed, with severe pain.
Achilles tendinitis; It develops due to the injury of the Achilles tendon, where the muscles on the back of the leg connect with the heel of the foot while doing sports or moving, especially in situations such as pushing hard or running uphill. Ankle tendon pain develops ai and severe. Tenderness and swelling are detected where the Achilles tendon attaches. Again, crepitation (cracking) and pain behind the ankle occur during foot movement.
Retrocalcaneal bursitis; It occurs when the soft tissues (joint pads called bursa) located between the heel bone and the Achilles tendon are damaged due to the force of the foot with various movements. In this case, swelling is observed in the anterior side of the Achilles tendon, in the heel and with foot movement.
Posterior tibial tendinitis; Due to the injury to the tendon of the posterior tibia muscle passing behind the protrusion in the inner part of the ankle, we encounter pain especially during the inversion and eversion movements of the foot. Again, by pressing the protrusion on the inner part of the ankle, pain, tenderness and swelling are detected.
Rheumatoid arthritis; Also known as inflammatory joint rheumatism among the people, it is a rheumatological disease that can cause damage to the internal organs, especially the joints in the whole body. It can affect almost any joint, especially with the joints of the fingers and toes, and the knee joint. In case of holding the ankle joint; It is characterized by stiffness in foot movements, pain that decreases with movement, increases with rest, temperature increase and edema.
Osteoarthritis; It is a health problem that can be observed in almost every joint in the body, especially with age, which is known as joint calcification among the people. Weight gain is also a risk factor for joint damage. With age, joint damage occurs and the workload of the joints increases with body weight. As a result, serious disorders occur in the bone tissue and joint fluid forming the joint. When it occurs in the ankle, it appears as pain that increases with movement and decreases with rest. It may occur. p>
How Ankle Pain Relieves
An appropriate and effective treatment for ankle pain depends on accurately identifying the source of the problem. This can only be possible with the evaluation of a specialist physician. Therefore, in case of ankle pain, it is necessary to consult a health institution with a specialist physician.
There are various treatment methods that can be applied depending on the underlying problem. If ankle pain is caused by a systemic disease, it is necessary to treat this disease first. However, if the sprain is caused by a local problem caused by trauma or damage to anatomical structures, the following methods can be applied in the treatment.
Hot-Cold Application: Since edema occurs in the injured tissues during the healing process and ankle pain occurs due to edema; hot – cold application can help to solve edema and eliminate pain. It allows it to be shared with other tissues and to offer the opportunity for healing to the injured tissues. It provides relief of complaints such as edema, pain and tenderness. For this purpose, physical applications such as heat application, physiotherapy, traction, massage or various exercises can be performed. When these drugs are used together with other methods and exercises, generally positive results are obtained.
Steroid Injection:Â Additional In some cases, steroid injection is applied into the joint or soft tissue to relieve edema and pain and accelerate tissue healing. However, steroid injection may increase tendon damage in some patients, causing tendon rupture or adversely affecting tissue healing. For this reason, it is necessary for the specialist physician to decide in which cases and in which patient the steroid injection will be performed. In the same way, since infections due to the progression of inflammation in the tissues may come to the fore, antibiotic treatment may also be required.
Ankle Support: The healing processes of the tissues in the ankle can be reinforced by using support materials in the form of splints or orthoses. The aim here is to reduce edema by tightening and fixing the tissue, and to allow healing by not allowing the tissues to be burdened.
Acupuncture: Ankle pain can be treated with acupuncture method in cases where traditional treatment methods cannot be obtained.
Surgical Treatment: These methods However, surgical intervention may be considered as an option if treatment fails. The aim of surgical treatment is to repair the tissues in the ankle during the operation or to remove the elements that cause damage to the tissues. Apart from these, surgical treatment may be required primarily if there are tissue loss, fractures, cracks or ruptures in bone tissues or tendons due to trauma. Here, the final decision depends on the determination and evaluation of the specialist physician. In the healing process, protecting the ankle from adverse movements, choosing the appropriate shoes, and using support materials such as splints and orthoses can be listed among the things that can be done.
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