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Your Ankle Mobility Is More Important Than You Might Think

Unless you twist them or sprain them, odds are you don’t give your ankles much thought. That’s understandable, considering that they function largely on autopilot as you go about your day, and that their natural range of motion (about 70 degrees) is significantly less than other joints (e.g., the knees, which move though 135 degrees)...

Each of your ankles produces six different types of movement—but the two most important ones are plantar flexion (pointing the foot away from the body) and dorsiflexion (pointing it toward the body). Unless you’re a swimmer, dorsiflexion is your primary concern even though it accounts for less than half of the joint’s full range of motion.

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 Ankle Injuries

In this post, we will focus on the most common types of ankle injuries and discuss the most important steps for initial assessment, management, and discharge instructions ED clinicians should be giving to their patients.

Articles of Interest

All About the Ankle

What many people refer to as the main ankle joint has several names. Some experts call it the talocrural joint, while others prefer the ankle joint proper or just the ankle joint.

Ankle Anatomy and Physiology

The ankle and foot are complex structures, with a variety of connecting bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles. The ankle is the joint where the foot attaches to the bones of the lower leg, allowing the foot to move up and down and side to side. It is the hinge that supports your body weight and takes the impact when you walk, run, or jump.

Ankle Mobility: Why it’s important and how to improve it

You might scoff at the notion of spending time to work on the flexibility of the joint, but what if I told you that doing so would significantly help your squat, improve your strength and reduce the risk of injury?

Did you know? 5 Facts About Your Ankle

Our ankles and feet are intricate components of the skeletal system. Oftentimes bony, sometimes damaged, strained or swollen – we often overlook our ankle yet it is essential for a lot of mobility that we possess. We don’t usually give them extra thought unless they cause us pain or injury.

Gearing Up the Human Ankle-Foot System to Reduce Energy Cost of Fast Walking

Humans take advantage of the functional interplay between the ankle joint and distal structures in the foot to walk and run effectively.

How Strong Are Your Ankles? This Simple Test Will Tell You

Ankles operate as critical stabilizers for balance and strength. Anyone who ever experienced a sprained ankle knows it can put you out of commission for anywhere from a few days to several weeks, and swelling can take months to reside. Strong ankles will not only help prevent ankle rolling and other injuries, but will also improve balance and provide a strong foundation for overall health. Unfortunately, ankle strength is often taken for granted and ignored until an injury forces us to come to terms with it.

Stuart Burgess Informs Evolutionist Nathan Lents on the Design Genius of the Ankle and Wrist

Professor Lents is a proponent of the “unintelligent design” hypothesis. He looks at engineering marvels like the human wrist and ankle and sees only “blunders,” “pointless bones,” “anatomical errors.”

The Ankle And How It Is Related To Function

The ankle is a complex joint that allows for movement in various planes: dorsiflexion/plantarflexion (up and down), inversion/eversion (in and out), and pronation/supination (arch down and arch up).

The Easiest Foot and Ankle Fix: Bridge the Gap

Simply put if the feet and ankles are out of synch it will be impossible to perform any lower body exercise correctly. In other words you’ll be squatting, hinging, lunging, jumping, running, and even walking with faulty mechanics which leads to a number of dysfunctional movements and potential injuries throughout the kinetic chai.

Turning a New Ankle

The ankle is the sweet spot. The relatively small but complex joint greatly affects how humans walk, twirl, and jump. Turning is an essential motion. So, why are ankle prostheses often designed with such limited range of motion? It's a question Mo Rastgaar, an assistant professor in mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics, has often wondered—a question that ultimately led him to build a better prosthetic ankle joint.

What is the ankle?

The ankle is a joint which allows plantar flexion and dorsiflexion of the foot. Plantar flexion refers to the movement which decreases the angle between the sole of the foot and the back of the leg (ex: pointing the foot to the floor, as if to walk on one’s toes). Dorsiflexion is rather the opposite movement, where the toes are brought closer to the shin. This decreases the angle between the dorsum of the foot and the leg (ex: lifting the foot to walk on one’s heels).

Why ankle stability and mobility matter

The ankles are a major load-bearing joint of the body and play an essential role in all aspects of performance, especially for athletes who are running, changing direction quickly, and going through rapid acceleration and/or deceleration; they’re actions that put a lot of stress on the feet and ankles and carry a huge risk of sprain and fracture. But despite bearing an incredible amount of weight, the ankles are surprisingly fragile and relatively easy to damage, which means that taking precautionary measures to strengthen and stabilize them is key to avoiding injury.

Resources

My Ankle

MyAnkle.co.uk is a free resource to help sufferers of ankle problems find up to date and accurate information on their condition and the various treatments available. It covers conditions such as ankle sprains, ankle arthritis, Achilles tendon problems and osteochondral lesions of the talus. It also provides details on the very latest trials of new treatments underway.

KenHub

The main action of the ankle joint is to allow dorsiflexion and plantar flexion of the foot, as well as some degree of pronation and supination with subtalar and midtarsal joints. The joint also acts as a shock absorber as the heel strikes the ground during the first phases of gait.

Physiopedia

The ankle joint is a hinged synovial joint that is formed by the articulation of the talus, tibia, and fibula bones. Together, the three borders (listed below) form the ankle mortise.

TeachMe Anatomy

The ankle joint (or talocrural joint) is a synovial joint located in the lower limb. It is formed by the bones of the leg (tibia and fibula) and the foot (talus). Functionally, it is a hinge type joint, permitting dorsiflexion and plantarflexion of the foot.