Ankles are joints that work hard, keeping you upright, carrying your weight around, and enduring enormous pressures and strains during the course of your life. If you’ve started to feel pain in your ankles, there could be a number of different causes, but consulting expert foot and ankle surgeon Christopher O. Cook, DPM, FACFAS, at San Juan Foot and Ankle Center in Montrose, Colorado, is the best way to get to the bottom of the problem and get the treatment you need. Call the center today or book an appointment online.
Most people experience a twisted ankle during their lives, and that’s the most frequent cause of ankle pain. Ankles may literally twist beyond the range they should do, or they may bend over in one direction or the other rather than turning. Either way, there are extreme pressures exerted on the ankle joint when it extends beyond its natural range, and it can cause sprains, strains, or even fractures.
If you’ve twisted or bent your ankle over, or dropped something on your ankle, that is the likeliest cause of your pain. What’s important is to get an accurate diagnosis so that you can treat the cause appropriately.
People tend to speak of sprains and strains as if they are the same thing, when in fact they’re entirely different. A strain involves the tendons, which are the fibrous connective tissues that attach muscles to bones. Sprains involve the ligaments, which are the tough connective fibers that hold bones together and stabilize joints. Symptoms may be similar, but treatments are not, so an accurate diagnosis is the only way to ensure you’re treating the injury correctly.
The other chief cause of ankle pain is a fracture, where a bone gets broken either partially or entirely. You may think a break would be obvious, but unless the bone is protruding through the skin, you can’t be sure without a professional assessment. It’s possible to bear weight on a fractured ankle believing it to be a strain or sprain, so being able to walk is not an accurate indication of the seriousness of your injury.
First and most crucially, you need to get the correct diagnosis. Unless you consult an experienced foot and ankle surgeon, you may not get the best advice on treatment and rehabilitation, which could leave you with long-term problems such as chronic pain or weak ankles.
Dr. Cook at San Juan Foot and Ankle Center has considerable experience and expertise in diagnosing and treating ankle pain and offer individualized treatment plans that address the needs of each patient to assure a speedy and satisfying resolution to ankle pain. Book an appointment online or call the center today to get the care you need.
