What is Anterior ankle impingement syndrome?
Anterior ankle impingement happens in the ankle joint between the tibia and the talus (the lower bone of the ankle). The anterior ankle impingement syndrome of the ankle is a strangling induced by soft tissue. Such as the joint capsule or scar tissue, as well as hard tissue such as bone tissue. The talocrural joint is located on the anterior side of the ankle. The body will respond to repeated micro-traumas to the ankle by forming additional bone tissue known as “osteophytes”. There are three kinds of osteophytes: traction spurs, bone spurs, and bone spurs. Osteophyte or chondro-osteophyte, inflammatory spur
Scar tissue or even bone spurs can form, causing ranges of motion to be difficult. When you do dorsiflexion of the foot, you will experience discomfort. Anterior ankle impingement syndrome is highly common in those who have numerous ankle sprains or in athletes who participate in sports such as football, basketball, tennis, table tennis, cricket, and hockey.
X-rays can assist identify if there is a bone spur on the end of the tibia that is impinging, but if it is scar tissue, you may not notice it. In that situation, our highly skilled physiotherapists will do a physical examination to determine the cause.
PHYSIOTHERAPY TREATMENT OF ANTERIOR ANKLE IMPINGEMENT SYNDROME INCLUDES:
Initial treatment may involve icing or cryotherapy, compression bandaging, and at Elite Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Centre, we have the newest Cryo-air machine to provide the best results in the shortest amount of time.
Ankle Range of Motion exercises.
Stretching activities, strengthening exercises, manual therapy, and electrotherapy are examples of secondary treatments.
Dorsiflexion Stretching exercises for ankle impingement- to conduct ankle stretching, bend your afflicted knee and place your foot on the contralateral thigh, then pull the heel of the affected foot downwards and the toes up. Repeat three repetitions, holding the stretch for 20-30 seconds each time.
Plantar flexion stretch- maintain the same position as before, but now pull the toes downward and heel upward to create space between the anterior ankle joint.
Strengthening exercises for ankle impingement- Use an elastic band to do ankle dorsiflexion, plantar flexion, eversion, and inversion against the resistance of the Theraband.
Ankle joint manual mobilization
Once enough ankle control is acquired, the physiotherapy treatment can be advanced to a higher degree, such as-
Balance board exercises for inversion and eversion.
Training in proprioception.
Training that is functional.
Cycling, Swimming
Consumption of vitamin C, protein, and antioxidants.
Also, Shockwave Therapy, Super Inductive System (SIS), Combo-therapy, and High-intensity class 4 Laser therapy are some of the therapeutic techniques utilized in anterior ankle impingement syndrome.
