Ankle Impingement Essay

At the beginning of my sophomore year, I was experiencing pain in my right ankle, and the pain was caused from dance. The doctor found an extra bone in my foot and diagnosed me with ankle impingement. Ankle impingement is defined as “when either soft or bony tissues are compressed within the ankle joint at the extreme end of a motion, such as pointing the foot sharply downward” (APTA), and the compression is caused from the extra bone. The extra bone is usually caused from a small part of a bone chipping off the actual bone because of a previous injury, such as twisting or rolling an ankle. Ankle impingement is more common in dancers because we are constantly pointing our foot sharply downward. I also experienced and still do experience pain

It made walking up stairs more difficult and sometimes I would trip over it or it would cause me to be in the way of other people. Since the boot was on my right foot, I had to take it off to drive, which was a hassle. I didn’t have to sleep with it on, and I could put it on after getting ready in the morning which was a positive however. I also was unable to dance for four weeks. Being unable to dance for that long can be detrimental to the body and skills in dance. I still sometimes have to sit out from dance class because of the pain during certain combinations that include constant jumping or being on

The physical therapy helps me maintain my strength while going through an injury. While at physical therapy, I do exercises that help strengthen my hips because everything is connected, so the strength in my hips can take the pressure off my foot. The physical therapist also performs deep tissue massages on my calf to release some of pressure and knots in my calf which connects to my ankle as well. I’m obviously not as strong in my right ankle anymore because I still feel pain just by pointing my foot, but I’m hoping that once that pain goes away that I’ll be stronger