Foot Pain Explained app for iPhone and iPad

pain in and around the ankle for no apparent reason

WHAT CAUSES ANKLE PAIN

Are you having pain in your ankle and cannot figure out why? In your case there is no history of trauma, you are not especially active or athletic but you seem to have pain in your ankle, mainly on the inside or outside of the ankle. You may or may not be overweight. You have been to the doctor, perhaps had x-rays, had various types of treatment but still have pain.

This discussion deals with one aspect of a painful ankle that most non-footspecialists would fail to recognize. It deals with pain that is the result of nothing more than abnormal biomechanics of the foot. Biomechanics is defined as "The study of the mechanics of a living body, especially of the forces exerted by muscles and gravity on the skeletal structure." More simply stated, it is the way the body functions in regard to the musculoskeletal system.

Unfortunately, most of us do not function the way the anatomy books would lead us to believe. There are many variations on the way the skeletal system is “supposed’ to function. Most of these variations would be considered normal since there is a large percentage of the population that exhibits these variations. A simple example would be a limb length discrepancy where one limb is slightly shorter than the other. It is abnormal compared to a anatomy text book but normal in that many people exhibit that trait.

In regards to the ankle joint, this joint is considered a hinge joint where the talus bone of the foot sits directly under the tibia bone and is anchored on the side by the end of the fibular bone to form the ankle joint. This type of joint allows the foot to go up and down.

Look at the picture below, notice how the talus bone of the foot sits perfectly under the tibia and fibula bones of the leg. Also, note the perfect space between the talus bone and the tibia and fibula bones; this is an ideal articulation which forms the ankle joint. Under these circumstances, without any history of trauma there would be no complaints of ankle pain.