4 Popular Causes of Ankle Pain

Ankle pain is a common complaint,  as people suffer from this kind of pain worldwide. Ankle pain may be caused by lots of problems, but the most common are sprains, strains, and arthritis. According to GSK, 25,000 people sprain their ankle every day. In most cases, ankle pain can be treated at home with common methods, like rest, ice pockets, and medication, but sometimes people have a serious medical condition that may require surgery to solve the problem. In this article, we want to introduce the most common causes of ankle and their symptoms.

1. Sprains

In general, sprains are caused by twisting or strangely turning your ankle. Because of these awkward moves, your ligaments sprain. Sprains are common, and they occur in people of all ages, but they differ with the range of damage to ligaments. These ligaments connect bones and stabilize the joints in the ankles. They can be caused by common activities, for example, sports activity, exercising without a warm-up, a great fall, etc. If you think that you have a sprained ligaments, here are symptoms:

• Ankle pain


• Swellings


• Reduced range of motions


• Inability to put a weight on our leg


• Bruising


• Etc

If you have at least one or two symptoms, contact the ankle pain doctor and make an appointment to diagnose if you have a sprain and prescribe a treatment. In most cases, people need only rest, ice, compressions, and elevations, which is the most popular method (RICE).

2. Bursitis

Bursa is a fluid-filled sac that helps your bones move and laces them while moving. These bursae are located in different places in your body, but when they become injured or even inflamed, it is called bursitis. The most common causes of bursitis are traumas, pressure, and infections. Pressure means that you walk, stand, run on hard surfaces such as asphalt or concrete (weight-bearing activity). Symptoms of ankle bursitis:

• Heel pain 


• Swellings 


• Skin redness


• Fever

In general, bursitis is detected at the doctor’s appointment, the doctor usually makes a visual examination, MRI, x-ray, ultrasound, or CAT scan. If you want to relieve pain, then you should wear comfortable shoes, rest enough, use drugs, and of course use shoe inserts.

3. Fractures or broken ankle

A fractured bone may mean that you have one or more broken bones. Ankles have 3 bones, and sometimes people can break one of them and even do not notice that, but in some cases, people break several bones, and it may cause some motion problems. There are lots of causes of broken bones, but we want to highlight several of them: epic fall, twisting, rotating, or even rolling an ankle. Symptoms of the broken ankle:

• Sharp pain


• Swellings


• Bruising


• Problems with putting weight on the leg


• Deformation 

At the appointment, the doctor will do a visual analysis and x-ray scan to check if it is a fracture because ankle sprains have similar symptoms. In some cases, if it is needed, you will have an MRI test and CT scan.

4. Ankle arthritis

Arthritis may develop in any joint in your body, and it is common among aging people, in general, it is people who are over 65 years. In general, this disease affects joints and reduces cartilage, and over time bones start rubbing on each other, which causes pain and other problems. Anyone can get arthritis, but chances increase as we get older, but if you have repeated sprains, inflammations, fractures, then you have a higher chance of getting arthritis at a young age. Symptoms of ankle arthritis:

• Severe pain during the motions


• Swellings


• Skin redness


• Increasing pain or swelling in the morning, after resting


• Problems with putting weight on the leg

During the doctor’s appointment, you will have an x-ray test, CT scan, MRI test, laboratory test. Your doctor should understand if it is arthritis, so he or she will make a gait analysis, the analysis of the way you walk because arthritis changes it. The doctor may offer you non-surgical methods of treatment, for example, physical therapy, or surgical treatment methods. 

The bottom line

To sum up, if you have ankle pain, then it is an additional factor to have an annual physical examination. Do not neglect symptoms, and ask for professional help as fast as you can.