Foot & Ankle
Physiotherapy

Foot & Ankle Injury

Overview

The foot is a complex area of the body that contains many muscles, ligaments, bones and nerves. Our Physiotherapists are experts in assessing and treating acute and chronic foot and ankle pain.

Foot and ankle pain can develop as an inability for the body tissue around the ankle to cope with applied day to day load. This can be caused by overuse, inappropriate footwear, poor biomechanics or after a change in training or exercise patterns.

Ankle and foot pain can come on acutely, that is after an injury mechanism such as rolling of the ankle, or slowly for no real reason. It is very important to have an assessment to determine the exact cause of your pain and ensure that the appropriate course of treatment is commenced immediately. At Regent Street we treat many foot and ankle conditions including;

A sprained ankle is an injury that occurs when the ankle rolls, turns or twists in an awkward way. This can stretch or tear through the bands of ligaments that help hold the ankle bones together. Damage to the ligaments occur when they are stretched beyond their normal length and can’t withstand the force placed on them. The most common heel problem that people experience is plantar fasciitis. This condition affects the plantar fascia, which is the thick band of tissue in the sole of your foot that connects the heel to the toes. It will commonly cause sharp pain under the heel, but can cause pain anywhere in the arch of the foot. Pain is generally at its worst in the morning and will improve throughout the day.

This is usually an overuse injury, however, load and incorrect footwear can be contributing factors as well as weakness and tightness in the surrounding muscles. Achilles tendinopathy is a common overuse injury that can develop following a sudden increase in training intensity of load.

It can cause pain, stiffness and swelling in the achilles tendon that connects the heel bone to the calf muscles. Metatarsalgia is a painful inflammation in the ball of your foot that commonly occurs from overuse injuries, ill-fitting shoes or foot abnormalities. Your foot may feel like you have a sharp burning or shooting pain in the ball of your foot. The most frequent cause of metatarsalgia is participating in sports activities that put pressure on the metatarsal bones at the front of your foot. Pain may increase with standing, walking barefoot, running or participating in high impact sports activities.

Achilles tendon rupture occurs when there has been a tear/rupture in the tendon that connects your calf and heel. A snapping sound may be heard as the tendon breaks and walking becomes difficult. An achilles tendon rupture will often require surgery. Sever’s Disease is a very common cause of heel pain in growing children particularly those who are very physically active.

It is caused by repetitive stress to the heel and most often will occur during growth spurts when muscles, bones, tendons and other structures are rapidly changing. The best immediate form of treatment after an injury has been sustained is to follow the RICER principle. That is rest, ice, compression, elevation and referral to a specialist.

This can be performed every hour for at 10 minutes at a time. Once one of our experienced team has completed an assessment they will identify the cause of your foot pain and will implement a treatment plan to help you manage your foot pain and prevent recurrence.

We will provide treatment that include the following;

Soft tissue massage to improve pain, flexibility and swelling
Joint mobilisation to assist with movement of the joint
Dry needling
Stretching
Exercise prescription to encourage motion and facilitate healing
Taping, compression or bracing to support the injury joint
Referrals for scans if appropriate
Addressing contributing factors that are specific to each individual such as activity, flexibility, strength, footwear and biomechanics.