There are several well documented underlying causes of ankle pain, as well as several different types of injuries that are classified as sprains and fractures. In fact, ankle pain caused by sprains, fractures, as well as other maladies and disorders, such as bone disease (calcium deficiency or cancer, among others) and arthritis, are some of the most common ailments that medical specialists encounter when treating incoming patients in a doctor’s office or a hospital emergency room.
It may be an interesting fact for the reader to note that one’s ankle joint will normally absorb several times their body weight as they walk, and significantly more while they are running. When one stops to think about it, it becomes clear that the ankle is truly the work horse of all the body’s joints, and it performs this function day in and day out without the person whom it so faithfully serves even noticing much – at least, until the day comes when an ankle injury is sustained, and subsequently requires much rest, immobility, and eventual physical therapy in order to heal itself. In most cases of ankle joint injury and resulting ankle pain, trauma, excessive obesity, diabetes, and repetitive over strain (due to excessive running, jumping, or participation in contact sports without proper rest in between sessions) are the major contributing factors to consider.
One of the most common types of ankle pain which results from a tearing of the ligaments (tough knit, stringy, tissues which attach muscles to bones) in the ankle are sprains. Sprains can range from a minor case of being “laid up” on one’s back for an hour or a day to a severe injury which requires physical therapy and rehabilitation, resulting in a considerable loss of time that could have otherwise been devoted to work, school, sports, and the like. Such sprains often result from sports related injuries, or from falls sustained on icy surfaces during the winter season. A severe sprain can also result in a major loss of mobility, with the patient reduced to hobbling about on crutches, or using a cane or a walker, in order to get about their daily round of business.
Treatment of such ankle sprains can range from simple but normally quite effective household remedies such as icing up the injury, placing the ankle under a couple of pillows in order to keep it elevated above the region of one’s heart, and taking medications containing ibuprofen or acetaminophen in order to control, or at least alleviate, the resulting ankle pain. More severe sprains especially those involving dislocation of the ankle joint or the degeneration that comes from neglect of prior injuries, will require immediate attention from a trained medical professional, and may need surgical intervention and weeks or months of physical therapy and rehabilitation before they fully heal.
Another, somewhat less common, type of malady which sometimes affects the region of the ankle joint, resulting in mild to severe, often intermittent (coming and going) ankle pain is arthritis. Arthritis can arise after many repeated injuries to the ankle, involving sprains or fractures for which treatment has been neglected, or simply rushed through due to impatience, without giving such wounds the proper time that they needed to heal. Arthritis can be the cause of many of the same symptoms of ankle pain as fractures and sprains. However, treatment for arthritis of the ankle joint carries with it a different, and somewhat, limited range of options. It is, therefore, best to consult with your doctor before embarking on a course of treatment for arthritis related ankle pain.
