I was just with a patient, and they asked me what can you do with someone who has arthritis in the ankle?
This is important because having ankle arthritis can be extremely frustrating. Many people are not aware that Physiotherapy treatment can significantly help you. Without this treatment you are left in pain, agitated and without any clarity on how to maximise your function.
And I don’t want that for you.
I want you to be independent, confident and strong. To be able to enjoy going for walks, spending time in the garden and traveling around Australia or overseas. It is time to live right.
So here is what I want to share with you today, the top 3 tips to help with ankle arthritis:
Tip 1 – Maximise your ankle movement
A natural part of the process of developing arthritis in your ankle, is you lose your ability to move through it. That is, the ankle becomes stiff and tight. You need to maximise the movement in your ankle joint through specific exercises. This will keep the joint supple.
Additionally, you need to learn how to keep the muscles above the ankle (calf) and below your ankle (foot) lose. This ensures that they don’t impact on how your movement. Tightness above and below impact the ankle in the middle. Check out the exercise at the top of the blog for an example.
Tip 2 – Maximise your calf strength
By getting your 2 major calf muscles strong your ankle is able to have improved shock absorption. This is important for when your foot hits the ground. Secondly, it will be able to push off the ground with more ease.
Your soleous muscle needs to get strong to improve your shock absorption. while your gastrocnemius needs to get strong to improve your push off the ground.
You improve the shock absorption and push off with an ankle that has arhtritis and every single step you take puts less pressure on the joint. You will be able to take more steps and you are more likely to get out of pain while doing so.
Tip 3 – Improve the strength in your legs and hips.
By getting your bigger muscles stronger above your knee, these muscles whill do more of the work with each step you take with walking. Simply, the human body doesn’t work in isolation. Sure getting the calf muscles stronger is essential. By getting these bigger muscles stronger, it further takes pressure off the ankle joint. The muscles above your knee are then functioning at a higher level. This improves your push off the ground and shock absorption with every step you take. The role on effect of this is less pain, more confidence and increased independence and function. How good is that!
Listen, I hope this was helpful
P.S: Want to learn more about how we can help your ankle arthritis?
