Daily Mobility Exercises by Dr. Kelly Starrett › Forums › Foot/Ankle › Pain/pinch in front of ankle preventing dorsiflexion

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    • 03/07/2016 at 5:06 pm #71559
      AvatarAlice Funez
      Participant

      Hi,

      I’ve been working on my ankle, there is this pain or pinch type feeling in the front of my right ankle which prevents me from having a good ROM. 
      I have 2 questions:
      1. When I do the mobilization Kelly shows in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gwgm3s2EQ0 , I “camp out” in that problem corner and it feels like a very sharp pinch or pain even, now will this pain eventually subside and my ankle heal if I keep mobilizing like this? Or am I just wrecking it even further. I have never broken or strained my ankle.
      2. Because of my lack of dorsiflexion I also feel a sharp pain in the inside of my knee, like my quad is trying to get my knee to come forward. Will this go away if I restore proper ROM in my ankle?
      Thanks so much!
      Loving mwod pro so far
    • 03/08/2016 at 11:14 am #76323
      AvatarHeather Olson
      Participant

      Hi,

      I have a similar issue with my left ankle which I’m trying to improve.
      Mine is getting better – my top tip is make sure you’re getting your knee outside your foot while mobilising.  I would recommend mobilising the heel bone and the banded calf stretch anterior bias:
      I also read that if you’re missing internal rotation at the hip that could cause an impingement in your ankle.  If you’re also getting knee pain I would recommend investigating upstream too.
      Another post I saw on this topic with lots of reference videos is:

      Hopefully someone who’s overcome this problem/ is more of an expert can also comment.

      Alex
    • 03/22/2016 at 12:44 pm #76334
      AvatarKatie Hemphill
      Participant

      Hey Lo,

      Let’s talk about #1.
      You’re getting impingement in the front of your ankle. That means stuff is getting pinched in the joint space when you try to close it. This is often a result of your shin bone (tibia) not sliding forward as it rolls over the ankle bone (talus).
      The mobility wod at-home solution to this would be banded dorsiflexion with the band pulling FORWARD towards your toes. This will encourage the tibia to glide forward as you bend your ankle.
      If this is still painful, it could mean a few things:
      1) You might be jamming your ankle a little too far into end range. Back off and move up to (but not into) the painful range when mobilizing.
      2) If you’ve been doing this and getting the pinching for a while, those tissues getting pinched might be a little irritated. Stop pissing them off for a while and you might find they are less painful when you go into end range.
      3) Your ankle joint might be fixated. That means the bones are a little bit stuck, so that sliding movement is really jammed up. If the banded mob’s fail to work after a few weeks, you might consider finding a therapist who can manipulate the joint (at their discretion, and following a proper assessment, of course).
      Good luuuuuuck!
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