The ankle and foot is made up of 22 bones, which form 33 joints. The foot and ankle is designed to be strong and agile enough to quickly adapt to changes in the ground surface. The foot and ankle is also designed to enable equal distribution of body weight through the foot whilst maintaining balance. The joints of the foot and ankle are supported by over one hundred ligaments and several muscles. To maintain the equilibrium between strength, agility and balance the movements at each joint are very intricate.
The most common injuries in the foot and ankle are ligament sprains and muscular strains. These sort of injuries are often minor and can be managed using simple principles of RICE under the guidance of our physiotherapists. Occasionally, more severe trauma can occur in the form of fractures or stress fractures overtime. For non-traumatic injuries management involves a combination of strengthening and balance exercises and gradually a return to sport.
Other injuries we treat to the foot and ankle might be overuse tendon problems, osteoarthritic pain and post-operative rehabilitation following surgery. We have experience with all of these conditions and would be happy to help you on your road to recovery.
CONDITIONS WE TREAT:
- Sprained ankle – ligament injury or tear
- Achilles tendon rupture
- Achilles tendinopathy (tendonitis)
- Plantar Fasciopathy (fasciitis) and heel spurs
- Ankle or Malleolar fractures
- Cartilage lesion
- Fracture or lesion of Lisfranc joint
- Fractured metatarsal
- Morton’s neuroma
