Ankle Issues Can Cause Pain Elsewhere

Sometimes I get patients who might be in the office for back pain, and the more I talk to them they eventually mention they’ve had ankle pain too. Well guess what…the two are often related. Ankle pain can cause you to compensate elsewhere, which can lead to pain…elsewhere!If you are having ankle problems, mention it the next time you are in the office. Chiropractic adjustments can be performed on many different joints, including the ankle and foot.While chiropractors do focus on the spine, many of us also specialize in adjusting the extremities (arms and legs) as well as the TMJ joint (jaw). Anywhere two bones meet is a joint that can potentially go out of alignment and need to be adjusted.The ankle is a fairly simple joint and patients respond well to the typical ankle adjustment. In our office, the adjustment is something like pulling on your foot in a specific way to get the ankle joint to move. The relief can be immediate.However, this is not a treatment for a sprained ankle, when ligaments are already stretched and torn. During the initial examination, we’ll determine if your ankle pain is due to a sprain or tear. Typically, we wouldn’t adjust a new injury. We might do therapy on the injury until it can be adjusted.If not diagnosed and treated early enough, you can have problems throughout your life, eventually causing other biomechanical problems, such as lower back pain.Reoccurring ankle injuries, as well as reduced muscle stimulation due to limited mobility while recovering, can affect the way a person walks and shifts weight to knees, feet and ankles. This can overtax the leg and spine and increase the odds of sustaining other injuries. A range of physical conditions can make sprains more likely to occur. Foot distortions such as flat feet due to collapsed arches, bunions and hammer toes may cause the incorrect displacement of weight to more delicate portions of the ankle, which can cause the ankle to twist.For years, I have helped patients address their ankle pain by working toward permanent healing and long-term relief.