Have you had times where you have gone our grocery shopping or gotten up for your daily walk only to have your ankle start bothering you just minutes in? Ankle pain when walking can be detrimental when walking is a staple in our everyday lives. This post will review common causes of ankle pain and what you can do to help relieve your ankle pain.
**This is not medical advice. Please consult your medical provider for more information.
Anatomy of the Ankle and Foot
There are 28 bones in the foot: 7 tarsal bones, 5 metatarsal bones, 14 phalanges, and 2 sesamoid bones.
The ankle itself consists of the distal tibiofibular joint and the talocrural joint. The distal tibiofibular joint is the syndesmosis joint between the tibia and fibula. The talocrural joint is comprised of the tibia, fibula, and talus. This joint allows for dorsiflexion and plantarflexion of the ankle.
Along the medial side of the ankle (the inner portion), the deltoid ligament provides stability. Stability along the lateral ankle (the outside portion) comes from the anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL), the calcaneofibular ligament (CFL), and the posterior talofibular ligament (PTFL).
The calcaneus (heel bone) is port of the hindfoot of rearfoot. The subtalar joint is part of the hindfoot. This joint is comprised of the tibia and calcaneus. While the foot is much more complex and we will not go down that route in this post, the calcaneus is important to the ankle because it is an attachment point of the achilles tendon.
Possible Causes of Ankle Pain When Walking
Ankle pain mainly comes from injury or overuse. Common injuries include:
Ankle Sprain
Ankle sprains occur when there is extra stress to one or more of the ligaments of the ankle meaning they are overstretched. Sprains most commonly occur to the lateral ankle. The deltoid ligament along the medial side is much larger and stronger which provides extra stability. Poor ankle stability can lead to chronic ankle sprains.
Ankle Strain
A strain refers to overuse of the muscle or tendon. Achilles tendinitis is a common overuse injury.
Fracture
With more severe injuries, fractures can sometimes occur.
Other Causes of Ankle Pain
If you have ankle pain that was not a result of injury, you could be experiencing one of the following:
Arthritis
The ankle can be affected by both osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease and can affect multiple joints throughout the body. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease where the tissue within the joint breaks down.
Gout
Gout occurs when uric acid builds up and crystals accumulate within the joint. These gout attacks can happen quickly. The crystal accumulation causes inflammation and intense pain.
Neuropathy
Peripheral neuropathy affects nerves of the hands and feet. Damage to these nerves can cause pain, numbness, weakness, or tingling within these regions.
Flatfoot
Flatfoot, or a pronated foot, happens when the arch of the foot falls closer to the ground. Sometimes it can drop almost completely flat, hence the reference name of “flatfoot.” This typically occurs over a length of time. It can come from joint stiffness and weakness of muscles in the foot.
Two important muscles that help keep the arch of the foot at normal height are tibialis posterior and peroneus longus, aka fibularis longus.
How Can I Relieve My Ankle Pain?
If your ankle pain is due to injury or overuse, there are a few things that can help speed up recovery and relieve pain. Strengthening muscles around the ankle can help provide support to sprained ligaments or strained tendons and muscles. It can also help provide extra stability to an ankle that has suffered from chronic ankle sprains.
Balance training is important for the foot and ankle. It helps with stability and proprioception. It also helps reduce the risk of injury. If you’re running and step on an uneven surface, your foot and ankle can more quickly react and stabilize itself if you have efficiently trained your balance.
The key muscles that provide support to the arch of the foot need to be strong. Weakness in the tibialis posterior and peroneus longus can lead to flatfoot and under dysfunctions. Making sure these muscles are strong and can hold optimal foot posture when we are standing is essential.
Exercises for Foot and Ankle Pain Relief
Toe Yoga
This exercise helps with motor control and fine movements within the foot.
In this video, a foam roll is used to help assist with the movement. As you can tell, I have a difficult time with this exercise and you’ll see me do all sorts of funny things. If you also have a difficult time, you can use anything to help hold your toes down as needed.
Start with your foot on the ground. Lift only your big toe up towards the ceiling. Then relax your big toe and lift the other 4 toes up towards the ceiling. This takes a lot of coordination to do!
Alternate your toes moving up and down 10-20 times on each side.
Big Toe Extension Stretch
Grab your big toe pull it backwards until you feel a stretch on the bottom of your foot. This is the first way shown in the video.
The second way to perform this is to place your foot on the ground while sitting and raise your heel up like you would do with a calf raise exercise. Keep the ball of your foot down, especially right under your big toe. This ensures you are stretching your big toe into extension.
Hold this for 10-30 seconds and repeat 2-3 times.
Short fooT
The goal of this exercise is to lift the arch of your foot up while keeping your toes down and avoiding any other compensations. Think about bringing the ball of your foot under your big toe closer towards your heel. You can use your fingers as a cue to help with lifting the arch. Remember, only the arch should be lifted off of the ground.
This movement is very subtle. Pay attention to the arch of my foot in the video to see how small the movement is. Pay attention to the heel and ball of the foot staying in contact with the ground at all times.
Other foot/ankle related posts
- 5 Reasons Why Balance Exercises are Important for Runners
- Why Single Leg Stability is Important for Daily Function
- Weak Ankles Running? Stabilization and Strengthening for Pain Free Running
TL;DR
Ankle pain when walking is most likely due to overuse or injury. This post reviews multiple reasons for ankle pain and covers three exercises to try to start your journey towards pain relief so you can get back to walking and running your errands pain free!
Tera Sandona is a licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) and the founder of PT Complete. She helps high-achieving women break out of cycles of chronic pain, stress, and burnout through her Regulate and Rebuild Method, a sequenced approach that addresses the nervous system first and builds strength second. Her work focuses on helping women finally understand their bodies, rebuild strength, and create lasting resilience that fits real life.
