Do You Have Weak Ankles?
If you frequently feel unstable when you walk, you may be suffering from weak ankles or what our podiatrists call chronic lateral ankle pain. In addition to feeling unstable or off balance, you may experience.
- soreness, stiffness, or tenderness in your ankles or your feet
- ankles that regularly twist inward or outward
- frequent ankle sprains
- swollen ankles
- ankle instability when wearing high heels.
Causes of weak ankles
If you have any of these symptoms, think for a moment: have you injured your ankles in the past? Perhaps more than once? Your ankles may be chronically unstable and weak from a prior injury or injuries, especially if they didn’t heal well and there’s still some scar tissue present. Arthritis, or the degeneration of protective cartilage in your joints, can also play a role. The two can be related; arthritis may have set in because of the old injury. Finally, there may be some inflammation of the soft tissues surrounding the ankle joint.
Treatment options
Improving your weak ankles is not only possible, but we also recommend it to prevent falling. Prescription-strength medications will calm down inflamed ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Stretching exercises and physical therapy will help increase the range of motion and strengthen weakened muscles. We may offer you ankle braces to help stabilize the ankle joint. Depending on the severity of your ankle instability, surgery or total ankle replacement may be the right option for you.
Let our experienced podiatric surgeons, Dr. Craig B. Frey and Dr. Megan L. Oltmann, help you improve your quality of life by treating your chronic ankle pain. Call Foot & Ankle Associates of Cleveland in Solon, Ohio at (440) 903-1041 or contact us online to schedule a consultation. We offer a modern office with the latest technology for podiatric patients in Portage, Geauga, Cuyahoga, and Summit Counties, proudly serving our patients from Solon, Aurora, Bedford, Chagrin Falls, Hudson, Macedonia, and Twinsburg.
