Chronic Ankle Pain

The ankle is a complicated joint made up of many bones, ligaments, tendons, fascia and muscles. In sports, ankle sprains tend to me one of the most popular injuries. Many of these injuries resolve themselves however there are more ankle sprains that you may imagine that cause long-term persistent pain and disability.

The unfortunate problem that leads to long term disability of ankle pain is improper treatment of the sprain to begin with. Most sprain type of injuries are treated with RICE - rest, ice, compression and elevation. Although this treatment may make you feel better temporarily in the long run if this is the only treatment you may be setting yourself up for a long term injury of the ankle. Or worse yet, setting yourself up for a knee, hamstring or hip injury. There have been studies that show that untreated ankle sprains can lead to future compensation problems leading to other injuries.

Persistent long term ankle pain can be as a result of having disrupted fascia not completely corrected. Fascia covers just about everything inside the body and acts as a communicator between the muscles, bones, organs and cells throughout the body. Once disrupted from trauma the disrupted fascia has been found to be one of the leading pain generators of the damaged site going undetected by conventional diagnostic testing including X-ray, ultrasound and MRI.

The fascia is located throughout the ankle area covering ligaments, tendons, muscle and bone. A sharp, severe twisting of the ankle will disrupt this fascial tissue. The fascial tissue is not designed to bounce back quickly and becomes disrupted. As an example it can become wrinkled like a shirt or pulled away from its insertion somewhat like a tent stake in the ground. Even though you can see the stake still in the ground the state is loose and has pulled away from its original insertion position.

When the fascia is treated with specific protocols to reinstate the fascia to its original position the patient will see immediate relief. The swelling will begin to relieve, the pain will be drastically reduced, the range of motion will increase immediately. In clinical studies properly corrected disrupted fascia stays corrected, There has been no evidence of the chronic pain returning.

For people who are suffering with long term pain this treatment is highly effective. Most people suffering with long term ankle pain normally have a break down in the fascia as well as a breakdown in the muscle group supporting this area. When both areas have been addressed with proper treatment the patient can resume a normal life including all of their normal daily activities without the fear of the pain returning.