ES: R Posterior and Lateral Ankle Pain (10-2-23) Initial Program
Previously had symptoms in the right ankle with therapy going from 9/2019 to 3/2020
Current complaints:
Walking now more then running but that is still painful
Pain is posterior and lateral
Swollen
Ice, rest, elevate helps but no lasting relief
Initial Movements
These should be completed daily ans possibly a couple times per day
Some important concepts:
REASSESS your pain after each movement
This means after you do an exercise or movement, stand up and walk around
Does it feel better, worse, or the same
If the answer is better or the same then you should continue to utilize that movement.
If you get up and it feels worse, then we need to either adjust that movement(don’t go so far, do do as many) or ditch that one and we can come up with something else
Try to avoid pushing hard into a stretch, the stretch is the ankles weakest position and if you push into it with too much force it will usually make the pain worse
These initial movements should be gentle
Go just to the beginning of pain or stretch
Complete each movement 2-3x/ day as you are able or as specified down below
Movement #1: Myofascial release for the calf
This is a gentle way to mobilize the calf without having to stretch it too hard
I like to place the ball as described in the video link and 2-3 spots on the calf and pump the foot/ankle up and down 10x
I would do the above sequence for a week and see how that is feeling. If everything is feeling ok, then I would add some strength circuits like the one below every other day. You can do the daily movements one day and the strength the next. If doing both strength circuits on the same day feels like too much, then break them up: Day 1 daily movements, Day 2 daily movements +strength #1, Day 3: Daily movements, Day 4: Daily movements +strength #2
EACH STRENGTH CIRCUIT CAN BE COMPLETE 1 OR 2 SETS DEPENDING ON HOW YOU FEEL