Ankle joint pain can be caused by various conditions such as ligament sprain, muscle strain, tendon rupture, bone fracture, Achilles tendonitis, stress fracture, and osteoarthritis. The ankle joint is where the shinbone meets the talus bone in the foot, and it is held together by several key ligaments.
Ankle joint pain can be caused by a number of conditions of the talocrural joint. It can be the result of an acute injury such as a ligament sprain or tear, a muscle strain or tendon rupture, or a bone fracture; a repetitive stress injury that develops over time such as Achilles tendonitis; or an inflammatory disease such as osteoarthritis. While there are many conditions that feature joint pain as a symptom, these are among the most common causes of ankle joint pain.
Ligament injury is a common cause of pain in the ankle joint. Sprains are especially common, in which the ligament is sharply overloaded. Severe sprains can result in partial or complete tears of the ligament. Most often affecting the anterior and posterior talofibular ligaments on the outside of the joint, such as when the foot is rotated outward at the ankle, the sprains cause pain, tenderness, swelling, bruising, and difficulty moving the joint.
Damage to structures such as a muscle tendon can also lead to ankle pain. A common injury site is the Achilles tendon, which runs across the back of the ankle joint and connects the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles of the calf to the heel bone. This tendon, which pulls up at the heel when these muscles contract and plantar flexes the ankle joint, can be suddenly strained or torn by a forceful movement such as jumping, jerking forward, or suddenly changing direction. It can also be damaged over time by repetitive motion such as running or jumping, resulting in Achilles tendonitis, a common source of ankle joint pain in runners and other athletes. Both types of injuries cause inflammatory pain on the back of the ankle and tenderness and, in severe cases, bruising and the inability to put weight on the foot.
Ankle joint pain is also commonly the result of a stress fracture in the tibia or fibula, a hairline in the bone caused by repetitive impact movements such as jumping and running. Most common in the tibia, this type of injury is often seen just above the ankle on the medial malleolus, the rounded bony protrusion felt on the inside ankle. It is characterized by pain up inside the ankle that may travel up the shin and that increases when weight is placed on the foot.
An additional source of pain in the ankle joint is not the injury but the disease, commonly osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis tends to manifest itself with age, although injury and obesity can accelerate its symptoms and lead to the degeneration of joint structures such as the discs that cushion and absorb the weight of the joint. This condition causes painful stiffness in the joint, particularly after periods of immobilization, which is often worse in the early morning. The pain may be accompanied by ankle swelling and difficulty moving, although the pain tends to lessen once the joint loosens.
Also known as the talocrural joint, the ankle joint is where the tibia and fibula bones in the shinbone meet the talus bone in the foot, which sits atop the heel bone or heel bone. Most of the joint surface area is devoted to the joint between the talus and the tibia, the largest bone in the shinbone that bears much of the body’s weight on the joint. A synovial hinge joint, the ankle joint can perform the movements of plantar flexion and dorsiflexion, or hinge the foot down or up, respectively. It is held together by several key ligaments, namely the deltoid ligament on the medial or inner surface of the joint between the tibia and talus, the anterior and posterior talofibular ligaments on the lateral or outer surface of the joint between the fibula and talus, and the calcaneofibular ligament on the posterior or posterior surface of the joint between the fibula and the heel bone.
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