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The Foot and Ankle
The foot and ankle are one of the most injury prone areas of the human body. The primary reason being there are very few sports which do not involve the hands or legs of the human body. As a result, there is a high possibility of these parts getting inflicted with injuries.
Foot Injuries
Some of the commonly occurring foot injuries are:
Turf Toe Syndrome
Turf toe can occur after a very vigorous upward bending of the big toe. It occurs frequently in people who play games on artificial surfaces. When the toe is bent upwards this causes damage to the ligaments which can become stretched. In addition the surfaces of the bones at the joint can become damaged.
Pes Cavus (Claw Foot)
A claw foot is a genetic defect in the foot with a high arch. Claw feet are relatively inflexible. This will often be associated with very tight calf muscles at the back of the lower leg.
Claw feet give rise to:
- Pain in the feet during running
- Painful toes that are bent and cannot be straightened
Plantar Fasciitis (Heel Spurs)
Plantar Fasciitis is inflammation of the plantar fascia or arch tendon of the foot. It is an overuse injury causing heel pain which may radiate forward into the foot.
The most common cause of plantar fasciitis is very tight calf muscles which lead to prolonged and / or high velocity pronation of the foot.
Stress Fracture in the Foot
A stress fracture can occur as a result of prolonged repeated loads on the legs. Long distance runners are susceptible to this type of injury
A stress fracture in athletes occurs mainly in the lower leg and foot (in the calcaneus, navicular and metatarsal bones).
Bunions / Hallux Valgus
A bunion is a painful swelling of the soft tissue, and bone enlargement over the inside of the ball of the big toe. Often the big toe will look as if it is bent in towards the other toes or even can lie across them.
Ankle Injuries
Some of the commonly occurring ankle injuries are:
Twisted/Sprained ankle
A sprained ankle is a very common type of ankle injury. A sprain is stretching and or tearing of ligaments.
The most common damage done in a sprained ankle is to the talo-fibula ligament
A sprained ankle is classified into three categories first degree, second degree or third degree depending on severity and degree of pain
Footballers' Ankle
Footballers' ankle occurs when you get a bony growth at the front of the ankle where the joint capsule attaches. The bony deposits cause inflammation in the joint capsule and tendons.