Skip to main content

Lateral Ankle Instability

Overview


Lateral ankle instability is a complex condition that can, at times, prove difficult to evaluate and treat for general practitioners. The difficulty in evaluation and treatment is due in part to the ankle complex is composed of three joints: talocrural, subtalar, and tibiofibular syndesmosis.



What are the symptoms of ankle instability?


1.Pain or tenderness in the ankle.

2.Discomfort or swelling.

3.A repeated “giving way” of the ankle on the outer, or lateral, side.

4.A general feeling of instability or wobbliness in the ankle, particularly when walking, running or when on uneven surfaces.



Treatment 

Conservative treatment of lateral ankle instability consists of early functional rehabilitation; including rest, ice, elevation, compression, initial range of motion, progressive weight-bearing guided by symptom tolerance, and physical therapy. Even with proper functional rehabilitation 10 to 40% of patients will go on to develop chronic ankle instability following acute ankle sprains. Multiple studies have been published which show both the benefits of conservative therapy as well as surgical treatment for cases that do not adequately respond to conservative treatment.

There have been more than 70 different operative techniques described in the literature for correcting ankle instability, and can be divided into three main categories; anatomic, non-anatomic, and anatomic augmented tenodesis reconstruction.



Lateral ankle instability exercises

Single leg stance – Stand up and hold on to something for balance. Put all your weight on your injured ankle for 15 seconds. Standing calf raises – Again with a balancing aid, put all your weight on your injured ankle and raise yourself up on it by extending it. Hold for 15 seconds.



What causes lateral ankle instability?

Ankle instability is caused by injury to the lateral [outside] ankle ligaments. This usually causes strain or stretch, and in more severe forms, causes a sprain or tear in the ligaments.


How do I strengthen my lateral ankle?


Put the heel of your good foot on top of the toes of your injured foot. Gently pull your toes and ankle towards your face on the injured ankle and the good foot can provide resistance on top. Hold for 5 seconds. Repeat 10 times.


How can you prevent ankle injuries at work?

Wearing the right footwear for the job protects you from stress- related injury to the ankles, knees, hips and spine. Wear activity- specific, well-fitting shoes, use sports strapping tape or an ankle brace to provide good ankle joint support (see your physiotherapist for advice on the correct support).


What is the most common risk factor for lateral ankle sprains?

Factors that increase your risk of a sprained ankle include: Sports participation. Ankle sprains are a common sports injury, particularly in sports that require jumping, cutting action, or rolling or twisting of the foot such as basketball, tennis, football, soccer and trail running. Uneven surfaces.


How do you check lateral ankle ligaments?



Procedure: The patient is positioned similar to the Inversion stress test. The examiner everts and abducts the heel while stabilizing the distal tibia. The test is performed on both the sides. An increased laxity and pain on the injured side in comparison to the uninjured side would indicate a positive test.










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Charge Syndrome

Overview CHARGE syndrome is a recognizable genetic syndrome with known pattern of features. It is an extremely complex syndrome, involving extensive medical and physical difficulties that differ from child to child. CHARGE syndrome is correlated with genetic mutation to CHD7 and the prevalence of CHARGE syndrome is 1:10,000-1:15,000 live births. Babies with CHARGE syndrome are often born with life-threatening birth defects. They spend many months in the hospital and undergo many surgeries and other treatments. Swallowing and breathing problems make life difficult even when they come home. Most have hearing two little girls sitting on a carpet, one girl has a trach and is biting her finger.loss, vision loss, and balance problems that delay their development and communication. Despite these seemingly insurmountable obstacles, children with CHARGE syndrome often far surpass their medical, physical, educational, and social expectations. One of the hidden features of CHARGE syndrome is the ...
7 comments
Read more

Dehydration Due to Diarrheal Diseases

Overview Dehydration occurs when you use or lose more fluid than you take in, and your body doesn't have enough water and other fluids to carry out its normal functions. If you don't replace lost fluids, you will get dehydrated. Anyone may become dehydrated, but the condition is especially dangerous for young children and older adults. The most common cause of dehydration in young children is severe diarrhea and vomiting. Older adults naturally have a lower volume of water in their bodies, and may have conditions or take medications that increase the risk of dehydration. This means that even minor illnesses, such as infections affecting the lungs or bladder, can result in dehydration in older adults. Dehydration also can occur in any age group if you don't drink enough water during hot weather — especially if you are exercising vigorously. You can usually reverse mild to moderate dehydration by drinking more fluids, but severe dehydration needs immediate medical treatment. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) Disease

  Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) Disease Disease Overview Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease is a rare disorder of unknown origin that affects many body systems, including as the eyes, ears, skin, and the covering of the brain and spinal cord (the meninges). The most noticeable symptom is a rapid loss of vision. There may also be neurological signs such as severe headache, vertigo, nausea, and drowsiness. Loss of hearing, and loss of hair (alopecia) and skin color may occur along, with whitening (loss of pigmentation) of the hair and eyelashes (poliosis). Signs & Symptoms Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease is initially characterized by headaches, very deep pain in the eyes, dizziness (vertigo), and nausea. These symptoms are usually followed in a few weeks by eye inflammation (uveitis) and blurring of vision. This may occur in both eyes at the same time or in one eye first and, a few days later, in the other. The retina may detach and hearing loss may become apparent. The chronic stage follows...
Post a Comment
Read more