It’s Important to Understand the Cause and Treatment of Foot and Ankle Pain 

People are often intimidated by medical science. It’s an odd situation where everyone has, and is, an extremely complex system. But at the same time it’s often as if one was given a high tech device without the owner’s manual. It’s just not easy to know what physical issues are normal and which are a pressing concern. And it’s true that people outside the medical profession shouldn’t feel as if they need to be an expert in it. After all, that’s what doctors and nurses are there for in the first place. But people should have a general understanding of the body parts which are in the greatest danger for accident or injury.

The foot and ankle should be near the top of the list for anyone with these concerns. This is in large part because it’s a complex structure. Feet have 26 bones and more than 30 small joints. And in addition to this the feet and ankles have a wide range of muscle and tendon which are especially prone to accidents. And the way people walk and run means that these issues can appear almost anywhere within this structure.

The first thing one should keep in mind is that arthritis is more common than people usually assume. Arthritis is one of the potential ankle pain causes most likely to hit everyone at some point in their lives. It’s good if it isn’t the case. But one should never assume that age means that he or she is immune to arthritis.

Next, one should keep physical activity in mind. People are often unaware of just how much their daily routine changes after making seemingly unrelated decisions. For example, consider just how much of a different going on a different jogging trail can make. The hardness of dirt on a running trail and sidewalks is immense. And a week going from one to the other is a huge lifestyle change. But to a jogger it might just seem like another route. Not anything which should have a huge bearing on them. They might just think about the fact that they’ve been running for years when looking for potential ankle pain causes. And at the same time they’d totally neglect the fact that they’ve only been running on a particular surface for days or weeks.

It’s also important to keep the circumstances where one experiences pain in mind. If the pain only comes up when performing certain activities then this can be fairly easy to hone in on. One could try to do these activities for a few minutes while being very careful to note where the pain is coming from. One should try to replicate the conditions as closely as possible too. Oftentimes something like carrying weight during an activity can end up being the cause of the problem. This and similar situations are easy to miss when trying to narrow down an underlying cause.

The treatment will of course come down to a proper medical diagnosis. But one can usually assume that treatment will come in a few particular types. Chronic conditions such as arthritis are usually treated using long term treatment plans. This usually means NSAIDs to help reduce both pain and inflammation. If the underlying issue is a minor tear in tendons or muscles that rest and possibly a brace will usually suffice. Otherwise, one might have to look into more varied treatment options. But one shouldn’t assume the worst. Sometimes these options just mean looking for different footwear. Or it might involve fairly minor lifestyle changes. The important point to remember is that there’s always hope. It’s just a matter of getting the proper attention and taking the proper advice to heart.