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Ankle pain causes difficulty in living our daily lives. Therefore, we need to know about ankle pain relief exercises to help us get moving in our day-to-day work and maintain the flow of living. Let’s know more about it!
Ankle pain is caused due to various reasons, and people who are older or middle-aged, especially women, are often affected by ankle pain. Ankle sprain mainly involves the soft part of the tissue. Thus, the ankle joint is very fragile to any disorder.
1. Ankle Pain Relief Exercises
Some of the ankle pain relief exercises are:
1.1. Achilles’ Tendon Stretch
The back region of your ankle causes pain because of the irritation to the Achilles tendon, which is connected to the heel bone to the calf muscle. This pain occurs because of the amount of exercise increased or overuse. To do this exercise, simply loop a towel around the ball of your foot and pull back holding your body straight.
1.2. Towel Pick Up
For ankle pain relief, you need to place a towel on the floor in front of your chair. Pick up the towel with the help of your toe and repeat this 20 to 30 times. You can also use this technique by adding a little weight to the towel. Repeating this exercise thrice a day can give you ankle pain relief.
1.3. Exercise for Swollen Feet or Ankles (Ankle Pump)
Ankles and feet swell up when a large amount of fluid is accumulated in the lower body region. An ankle pump is one of the exercises to reduce swelling.
Move your foot up and down while lying down. Repeat this step 40 times, at least 3 times a day.
1.4. Balance Test and Toe Lift
This exercise is to get relief from rheumatoid 1or reactive arthritis. Stand up straight with both feet touching the ground. At the same time, close your eyes and lift your toe slowly. Repeat this exercise 20 times which will relieve your ankle pain.
1.5. Cross-Leg Ankle Stretches
Sit down calmly and relax your whole body. Touch your foot with the right hand and bend the toes gently downward. Likewise, the right toe must be bent down against the left hand. By doing this ankle pain relief exercise daily, you can feel a stretch in your foot and ankle.
2. Arthritis and Its Types
In general, arthritis is swelling or inflammation in the foot and ankle. There are over 100 types of arthritis; therefore, each type of arthritis has different symptoms.
Some of the major arthritics are:
2.1. Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis happens when a joint gets wear and tear that is overused. Older people suffer from osteoarthritis more. It can be caused by obesity 2and more stress in the joints.
2.2. Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid Arthritis is also known by the abbreviated form RA3. This type of arthritis is an auto-immune disease meaning the body starts to attack itself.
This causes damage to our joints, and if we don’t treat this disease early, it may cause rheumatoid. Modulus that causes lump forms to our skin.
2.3. Psoriatic Arthritis
Psoriatic arthritis is a condition of arthritis 4that also causes inflammation in our skin, particularly in the ankle region. It sometimes also affects some other joint areas such as the scalp, knee, and elbow.
This disease affects about 35% of people. Psoriatic arthritis5 is mainly seen in those people aged 30 to 50. Skin inflammation was also first seen in Psoriatic arthritis.
3. Exercise for Sprain Injured Ankle
Ankle rehabilitation is common for an infected ankle. Some ankle injuries are not so severe, and they only relieve pain by placing some ice for 10 to 20 minutes in a very few hours.
People can take medical advice diagnosis treatment or physical therapy only if the ankle pain is severe, especially If placing ice is not giving you ankle pain relief.
3.1. Toe Curls
Toe curls help the two muscles of the toes to bind and gain strength. Sit straight and rest your foot on the ground over a towel. At first, bend and then gently and slowly grab the towel in your toes.
You will see that the towel moves as we grab it using our toes. Repeat this ankle pain relief exercise several times. This will soon help you to get relief from the pain.
3.2. Marble Pickup
Marble pickup helps to strengthen the muscles of the toes and feet. The exercise clarifies that you have to pick up a marble placed beneath your toes themselves. You can also place various kinds of marble and tie up each marble using the help of your toes. Repeat this ankle pain relief exercise using both your toes to get relief sooner.
3.3. Sand Walking
Sand walking is the most natural way to get ankle pain relief. Walking barefoot on the sand strengthens our calves, toes, and feet. For this exercise, go to the beach nearby, or you can also go to your nearby ground area for this ankle pain relief exercise.
Remove your shoes and start walking in the sand. Walk as much as possible to avoid any foot and ankle pain.
3.4. Toe Extension
People having plantar fasciitis must practice toe extension for the prevention of pain. Plantar fasciitis causes pain in the knee region while walking and causes serious difficulty in raising the toes. To perform the toe extension exercise, you need to lift your legs and rest them on the thighs.
Relax and touch your toes off the lifted foot and move forward and forth gradually. You will subsequently feel a stretch that will surely help you get rid of the foot’s pain. Repeat this ankle pain relief exercise with another foot. Repeat this 10 times on each foot per day.
3.5. Big Toe Stretch
Stretching your big toe is important for any ankle or foot pain. Pain in the big toe generally is due to the tight shoe, and for pain relief, the big toe stretch exercise is carried out this way:
- Sit on a chair and relax for a minute.
- Lift one of your legs rest it on your thigh and relax again.
- Use your finger to grab your big toe stretch the big toe slowly and move the big toe up and down and side to side.
- Repeat this ankle pain relief exercise for about 10 seconds.
The big toes stretch exercise will help you to get foot and ankle pain relief.
4. Another Form of Feet Pain (Gout)
A gout is a painful form of arthritis that is caused due to the release of an excessive amount of uric acid. Gout causes inflammation in the joint region of our body. Arthritis is very common. About thirty thousand people have arthritis.
Gout Arthritis also affects every people of age and sex. The inflammation which causes pain in the joint region also causes swelling, warmth, flushes, and tenderness to the affected area.
To get relief from the gout disease, you must also drink a lot of water, three liters of water of the same length each. Reverse the amount of fluid we consume will reduce the production of excess uric acid6 in our bodies. One can also apply an ice patch on the affected area, which will help to reduce pain or inflammation in the particular area.
For exercise, you must move the affected joints in the feet, elbow, and ankle slowly.
Elevating the particular joint area or elevating your foot will reduce inflammation and reduce the excessive amount of uric acid in the body. The elevating exercise will remove the accumulated blood in the area, therefore you will gradually get over pain and inflammation, and this exercise will also help in ankle pain relief.
5. Final Things to Remember
Ankle pain or any foot pain can occur for various reasons, but some gentle exercises and stretching can treat it. You can choose the kinds of exercises mentioned above that you like to be treated from knowing about their causes.
Aim to do exercises at least 3 to 4 times a day to get a proper and quick result. Repeat these ankle pain relief exercises daily and give your feet rest as much as possible in between the exercises. Walk properly, avoid any obstacle in the path, and avoid jumping and running if you often suffer from ankle pain.
The exercises mentioned above should give your ankle pain relief within 2 to 3 weeks and help you get a quick recovery. If you do all the exercises accordingly, you can recover from ankle pain within 2 months. It would be best if you remembered to wear proper shoes and do the exercises properly. Use all the anti-inflammatories, painkillers, and ice packs to speed up the recovery and healing processes.
Even if you are not getting proper recovery within 2 months from the exercise and with the right equipment, you should consult a doctor to help you get ankle pain relief. Tell your doctor or concerned medical team about the exercises you have been doing for the past month and mention all the precautions taken to get ankle pain relief.
Your doctor may suggest some changes in the exercise and may add some extra precautions to your routine. Then you should strictly follow them up and do accordingly. You may then start seeing some results for foot or ankle pain relief.
6. Frequently Asked Questions
6.1. What is the best home remedy for ankle pain?
Giving the ankle and the foot a good rest is a great remedy for ankle pain. Moreover, putting an ice pack and a compressing bandage helps reduce the pain. After the pain lessens, doing mild exercises for ankle pain is recommended to reduce pain further and give strength to the ankles.
6.2. Is it OK to walk with ankle pain?
No. It is not recommended to walk with ankle pain as it may increase the injury or the muscle strain that is causing the pain. It is recommended to give proper care to the ankle.
6.3. How long can ankle pain last?
Generally, it can take from 3-4 weeks to 6 months for ankle pain to completely heal and get relief from it. However, with remedies, exercises, and proper care, pain can go away faster.
6.4. How to strengthen ankles?
Nwachukwu Favour (nurse)
If you liked it then also check out “Benefits of Heel Touches“
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