Ankle Problems

Remember the old song with a line that said, "The foot bone's connected to the leg bone"? It's true — the foot bone IS connected to leg bone; we call that connection the ankle. Ankle joints are one of those body parts that nobody ever give a second thought to until something goes wrong — and things CAN do wrong.

The ankle joint is made of the ankle bone, the two lower leg bones, tendons, ligaments, muscles, and tissue. The ankle joint is actually an amazing feat (excuse the pun) of engineering, and it works very, very well most of the time.

The most common two problems with ankle joints are sprains and fractures. Sprains happen more often than fractures.  A sprain is an injury to the ligaments — a kind of stretching too far. It usually takes a few weeks and sometimes months for an ankle sprain to heal completely. A fracture is more serious. A fracture means that a bone has been cracked or broken in two. Ankle breaks are slow to heal.

Other parts of the ankle, like the tendons, muscles, and cartilage, can also be injured. Ankle injuries are often the result of playing sports and are one of the most common of sports-related injuries.

There are, of course, diseases that can also affect the ankle joint. Rheumatoid arthritis, for example, can cause swelling and stiffness. Usually this will be in both ankles and will be worse in the morning. If you are running a fever and the ankle joints appear red and swollen, this could indicate rheumatic fever. If the pain comes on suddenly and is worsened by clothing or bedding rubbing against it, this could indicate gout. Arthritis in the ankles is a very common ailment among older people, too.


The point is that if you are having pain in your ankles, you need to see a doctor sooner rather than later.