How Physiotherapy Can Treat Ankle Pain

Ankle pain can occur out of the blue or may develop over the years. Some foot pain causes can be hard to pinpoint, as they may not be connected to a specific accident.

Broken bones, degenerative joint disorders, and soft tissue sprains are just some of the issues that you may have to deal with at some point in your life. Such ankle and foot problems can greatly hinder your quality of life.

The good news is that a trained and licensed physiotherapist will be able to determine the root cause of your ankle pain in order to treat the issue so that you can go back to your normal routine.

Here, we will focus on ankle pain and what a physiotherapist can do to treat it.

What could be causing your ankle pain?

Ankle and foot pain may develop over several months or years due to an underlying and chronic condition. It may also develop rapidly because of an acute injury, such as getting involved in a car accident or getting injured while playing sports.

Bursitis develops when your tendons rub against the anti-friction sacks in your body. The end result is that they become irritated, which makes you feel discomfort.

Fractures develop due to excessive trauma to one or more of your bones, thus causing them to break or crack. An ankle or foot fracture may require several weeks of rest and physiotherapy in order for it to heal properly.

A strain occurs when one of your tendons or muscles becomes stretched too far, thus causing pain.

Arthritis is a serious inflammatory and degenerative condition that affects the patient’s joints and leads to intense pain. Ankle and foot joints may be adversely impacted by either rheumatoid or osteoarthritis. Contrary to popular belief, arthritis can also affect young adults and even children in some cases.

Is physiotherapy an effective treatment for ankle pain?

Physiotherapy has been clinically proven to help with the rehabilitation of extremities that have become injured. Physiotherapy is designed to accelerate the recovery process and reduce the pain of the patient.

It is often used as part of a long-term rehabilitation regimen. Physiotherapists have been trained to identify the root cause of the pain that the patient is in. By identifying the source of the issue, they can develop a customized treatment regimen to eliminate the problem.

The underlying issue will be treated in order for the patient to enjoy better health and function. Pain will be eased carefully without the use of powerful painkillers or invasive operations.

There are many effective physiotherapy treatments that can be used in order to treat ankle pain, as we shall see below.

How Physiotherapy Helps Relieve Foot and Ankle Pain

Foot and heel issues can be healed with special exercises that are designed to reduce foot and heel swelling and pain. Specialized stretching and other relevant exercises will be performed.

Hands-on manual therapy techniques may be performed in order to provide rapid relief. For example, ice and heat therapy may be used to help the patient. Ice can be placed on the injured area in order to reduce acute pain and swelling, provided it is applied in the first 72 hours.

Heat may also be applied, either in tandem with ice or on its own in some cases. If you are dealing with soft tissue pain that is caused by inflammation, then heat therapy may help alleviate your pain.

Ultrasound, electrical muscle stimulation, and/or cold laser therapy may also be used in order to accelerate the healing process so that the patient can return to their normal lifestyle.

Manual therapy is also known as massage therapy. It is a form of tissue manipulation that is designed to break up adhesions, reduce pain, and boost blood circulation. There are many different exercises that may be used to get your foot back to where it needs to be.

Acute strains, sprains, and arthritis can be treated with different range of motion exercises. An injured ankle or foot can be successfully rehabilitated by augmenting joint stability using advanced balancing and strengthening exercises.

There is Help Available

Physiotherapy is designed to reduce pain and swelling while also boosting balance, flexibility, and strength. It can accelerate the healing process by repairing damaged soft tissue and increasing blood flow.

There are many different treatment methods available in order to treat your ankle pain. Once the root cause of the pain is determined, the physiotherapist will design a custom-tailored treatment plan to eliminate the issue.

There are no drugs or invasive treatments involved. Ultimately, physiotherapy is a holistic medical discipline that optimizes the body’s natural healing mechanisms to heal injuries.