My wife has had ankle issues for a number of years and lately ankle surgery. Now I am getting some issues in my right one. The podiatrist that we see told us a very common cause of ankle injury:
Tight Achilles Tendon [calf muscles]
If the calf muscles are tight, then they put stress on the talus. Stress on the talus pushes it forward on the calcaneus thereby causing improper gliding motion between the talus and tibia. Improper gliding motion causes wear in the joint.
Then today in my sports medicine class, my medical professor stated that people with very high arches have tight achilles tendons. He also said that those same people have a helluva time stretching out their calf muscles.
Bottom Line:
- To reduce ankle injury, stretch your calf muscles. Keep them limber.
- Avoid high heels if you can - they shorten calf muscles.
- Visit a podiatrist if you have ankle issues - avoid a chronic problem.
If you have weak ankles, consider prolotherapy.
If your ankle is absolutely trashed due to arthritis and you're young, you may consider ankle allograft. I know nothing about this but your doc may.
Hope this helps ya.
In health,
Ben
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