Jonathan Cluett, MD, is board-certified in orthopedic surgery. He served as assistant team physician to Chivas USA (Major League Soccer) and the United States men's and women's national soccer teams.
Stuart Hershman, MD, is board-certified in orthopaedic surgery. He is the director of adult spinal deformity & complex spinal reconstruction at Massachusetts General Hospital and is on the faculty at Harvard Medical School.
There are many potential causes of ankle pain, ranging from acute injuries such as an ankle sprain or break to chronic conditions like arthritis. These can cause different types of pain.
Ankle pain may be burning, aching, or throbbing, and it may come on suddenly or gradually. Details about your pain can help your healthcare provider figure out the cause of your ankle pain.
This article covers the common and rare causes of ankle pain, how a diagnosis is made, and typical treatment methods.
The ankle joint consists of bones, muscles, cartilage, and connective tissues called ligaments and tendons. Injury or disease that affects any of these may cause pain.
Becoming familiar with these diagnoses can help you prepare for a visit with your healthcare provider, whether that is your primary care provider, podiatrist, orthopedic surgeon, or an emergency care provider.
If you are experiencing ankle pain, there is a good chance it may be due to one of these common causes.
An ankle sprain is an injury of one or more ligaments (tough, fibrous tissues that connect bone to bone). Ankle sprains may happen from stepping off a curb, walking on an uneven surface, falling, or playing a sport like tennis or basketball where a rapid change in direction causes the ankle to roll or twist inward.
Most commonly, ankle sprains happen in the anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL), which is on the outside of the ankle. Symptoms include throbbing pain on the outside of the ankle, along with swelling, bruising, and/or a feeling that the joint may give out.
Medial sprains, involving the ligaments on the inside of the ankle, occur much less frequently. Medial ankle sprains cause throbbing pain on the inside of the ankle and result from the ankle rolling outward.
High ankle sprains are also unusual. They cause pain above the ankle, where ligaments connect the two lower leg bones. They are most common in people who play impact sports like hockey or football.
Tendonitis occurs when the tendons, which attach muscle to bone, become irritated and inflamed. There are three types of tendonitis that can happen in the ankle: peroneal tedonitis, posterior tibial tendonitis, and Achilles tendonitis.
Peroneal tendonitis is inflammation of the peroneal longus or peroneal brevis tendons. These two tendons run along the outside of the ankle joint.
With this type of tendonitis, people feel a dull ache or tightening sensation on the outside of the ankle. The pain often develops over several weeks and worsens with standing or walking but gets better with rest. In severe cases, there is swelling, and some people describe feeling a popping sensation along the outside of the ankle.
Peroneal longus or brevis tendonitis often happens in people who frequently run on uneven or slippery surfaces or play sports that involve rapidly changing directions. But the condition can also result from improper training, poor running and jumping techniques, and improper footwear.
Posterior tibial tendonitis typically causes ankle pain on the inside part of the joint, along with swelling.
If left untreated, it may lead to significant walking problems. While a twisting injury may cause posterior tibial tendonitis, many people do not recall a specific trauma, and the pain comes on gradually.
Achilles tendonitis causes a burning, tightening pain along the back of the ankle. It can also cause mild swelling, along with morning stiffness in both the heel and calf. The Achilles tendon is the largest tendon in the body, joining the calf and lower leg muscles to the heel bone.
Any activity that places stress on the Achilles tendon, such as playing sports that require sudden starting and stopping or changes in direction, can trigger tendonitis. Wearing poor-fitting shoes, inadequate training, or having bone spurs on the heel may also lead to Achilles tendonitis.
There are three main types of arthritis that affect the ankle.
Osteoarthritis is the "wear and tear" type of arthritis in which the cartilage in the ankle joint gradually deteriorates. Over time, cartilage loss causes the bones to rub against each other. Bone spurs may also develop. The pain of osteoarthritis varies but often starts out as an achy, intermittent sensation that progresses with time into a sharper, more constant pain.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system attacks multiple joints throughout the body, including, in the majority of cases, the foot and ankle. A person with rheumatoid arthritis may also experience whole-body symptoms like fatigue or unintentional weight loss.
Post-traumatic arthritis may develop after any ankle-related injury. It is similar to osteoarthritis in that the cartilage within the ankle joint begins to wear away.
Ankle bone breaks (fractures) are common and refer to a break in one or more of the bones that attach to the ankle joint:
Similar to ankle sprains, twisting or rolling the ankle or falling may cause ankle fractures.
Symptoms include immediate and severe sharp pain, swelling, bruising, and an inability to put weight on the ankle. If the ankle joint becomes dislocated in addition to a bone break, the ankle may appear deformed.
An ankle bone bruise occurs from a less severe injury to the bone than a fracture. Ankle bone bruises may occur on their own or along with an ankle sprain. They are often severely painful and cause swelling, similar to that of a fracture.
While your healthcare provider will consider the following potential causes for ankle pain, they are not common.
Gout, a type of inflammatory arthritis, develops as a result of uric acid crystal formation within one or more joints. Since gout is an uncommon cause of ankle pain, it will be primarily considered in people who have already been diagnosed with gout.
An infection in the bone (osteomyelitis) may rarely occur in the ankle. Besides a tender ankle joint, other signs of an infected bone include warmth and swelling.
Tarsal tunnel syndrome refers to compression of the tibial nerve within the "tarsal tunnel" of the ankle (similar to carpal tunnel syndrome, which occurs in the wrist). This syndrome may cause an aching or burning pain and numb or tingling sensations on the sole of the foot, toes, and sometimes, the heel, ankle, or calf.
The common peroneal nerve runs down the lower leg and branches into both the deep peroneal nerve and the superficial peroneal nerve. If this nerve is compressed, it can cause symptoms that vary depending on where the compression happens.
For instance, compression on the outside of the knee and upper shin, which can occur from prolonged recumbency (lying down) during hospitalization or from an excessive crossing of the legs, may cause a foot drop.
Deep peroneal nerve compression causes pain on the sides of the ankle along with burning or tingling sensations between the toes. This is a rare condition that can result from wearing a tight-fitting strap from a shoe.
Benign (noncancerous) tumors of the foot and ankle, such as synovial cysts, are not necessarily uncommon, but malignant (cancerous) bone tumors, such as a chondrosarcoma, are rare.
Seek medical attention promptly if you are unsure of the cause of your ankle pain, you do not know the specific treatment recommendations for your condition, or you have these symptoms:
Many ankle conditions can be diagnosed with a medical history, physical exam, and X-ray. Other conditions require additional imaging tests and/or blood tests.
As you review your ankle pain with your healthcare provider, try to be as detailed as possible. It is a good idea to think through these details prior to your appointment. If you can, be prepared to discuss:
Your healthcare provider will perform a physical examination of your ankle. To start, they will check for swelling, bruising, or deformity. Next, they will perform special ankle-related tests, such as the following:
Emergency room and primary healthcare providers use the Ottawa ankle rules to help rule out an ankle fracture. They press on the medial and lateral malleolus (the round bones that jut out on both the inside and outside of the foot).
If these areas are tender, or if you cannot bear weight for four steps in the emergency room or healthcare provider's office, then you will need an X-ray.
During this test, your healthcare provider will hold the heel of your painful ankle in their hand and then gently invert (turn inside) and evert (turn outside) your ankle. They will compare the laxity (looseness) of your ankle joint movement to the uninjured ankle.
Increased laxity or pain with ankle inversion suggests a potential lateral ankle ligament sprain, while increased laxity or pain with ankle eversion suggests a potential medial ankle ligament sprain.
During this test, your healthcare provider will compress your lower leg bones at the mid-calf level. If you feel pain above the ankle joint, this could indicate a high ankle sprain.
If your healthcare provider suspects a particular diagnosis, they may order blood tests. For instance, if they are concerned about rheumatoid arthritis, they may order an anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) test.
Or, a healthcare provider may order a C-reactive protein test (which looks for inflammatory markers) to rule out an infection.
An X-ray can differentiate between an ankle sprain or a fracture. An X-ray can also reveal signs of gout or osteoarthritis.
Healthcare providers sometimes use other imaging tests, like a computed tomography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This is especially the case for more complex diagnoses like a high ankle sprain, a bone tumor or infection, or a suspected fracture not seen on the initial X-ray.
To diagnose a nerve problem, like peroneal neuropathy, a healthcare provider who specializes in nerve disorders (a neurologist) may perform a nerve conduction study and electromyography (EMG) test.
While it is sensible to believe that ankle pain is related to a problem within the actual ankle (i.e., ligament, tendon, muscle, or bone), this is not always the case. Some conditions may cause pain in the ankle but don't originate from an ankle structure.
A blood clot in the calf (called a deep vein thrombosis) may cause pain, swelling, and/or warmth in the ankle, foot, or lower leg. A simple, quick test called a Doppler ultrasound can help a healthcare provider diagnose this serious but treatable condition.
A skin infection (cellulitis) of the foot, ankle, or lower leg may cause ankle pain along with fever, redness, swelling, and warmth. While a medical history and physical exam are often all a healthcare provider needs to diagnose cellulitis, sometimes certain blood tests are helpful, such as an elevated white blood cell count.
Sometimes, nerve pain around the ankle (burning or tingling) is not from a nerve in the ankle but rather from an irritated nerve in the lower spine. This condition, called lumbar radiculopathy, can be diagnosed with an MRI of the lower (lumbar) spine.
Acute compartment syndrome—a serious condition that occurs as a result of severe pressure build-up in the muscles, often as a result of a bone fracture or severe crush injury—may develop in the lower leg.
In addition to severe pain, other symptoms of acute compartment syndrome include numbness, tingling, and/or burning sensations within the affected area. It is diagnosed by physical examination and must be treated with surgery to relieve the pressure.
Treatment depends entirely on your specific ankle problem, but one common treatment plan for many ankle diagnoses is the RICE protocol. This protocol is a good first step prior to your healthcare provider's appointment.
The RICE protocol is a standard home-based method of treating a variety of musculoskeletal injuries including ankle sprains and ankle tendonitis. The acronym stands for four essential steps:
Depending on the type of injury, crutches or a cane, ankle braces or splints, orthotics, and/or a cast may be necessary. Your healthcare provider will tell you which of these is right for you (if any).
Physical therapy is a common treatment for many ankle diagnoses including strains and tendonitis, as well as after an ankle surgery. Physical therapists use rehabilitation exercises to increase ankle muscle strength, regain mobility, minimize stiffness, and prevent chronic ankle problems.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) are some of the most commonly prescribed medications, especially for patients who have ankle pain caused by problems such as arthritis, sprains, and tendonitis.
For more significant pain, like that caused by a severe fracture, your healthcare provider may prescribe stronger pain medications such as opioids for a short period of time.
For severe cases of arthritis, your healthcare provider may suggest injecting cortisone—a steroid that reduces inflammation—into the ankle joint. The benefit of a steroid shot is temporary.
Surgery may be required to treat certain ankle conditions. For instance, for a severe ankle fracture, an orthopedic surgeon will need to fix and position the ankle bones back in place using screws, pins, rods, and/or plates. Surgical treatments include debridement, fusion, and replacement.
For the early stages of ankle arthritis, a surgeon may perform debridement. This means removing loose cartilage, inflamed tissue, and bony growths from around the joint. You may hear your doctor refer to this as "cleaning out" the ankle.
This surgery may be performed arthroscopically, which involves the surgeon inserting a small camera inside the ankle joint. Instruments can then be inserted through other small incisions to perform the debridement.
Arthrodesis is another option for ankle arthritis. It entails fusing the ankle bones together to prevent the arthritic joint from moving, thus minimizing pain.
Total ankle replacement or ankle arthroplasty involves a surgeon removing the damaged cartilage and bone and replacing it with an ankle implant.
Maintaining good muscle strength and flexibility in the ankle is key to preventing many ankle-related injuries. You can reduce the risk of ankle injuries with these practices.
There can be many causes of ankle pain. Some pain results from acute injuries, such as sprains, while other times pain comes from chronic conditions like arthritis. A healthcare professional will usually conduct a physical exam of your ankle and order imaging or other tests to form a diagnosis.
Treatment typically involves simple measures such as resting, icing, and compressing the ankle, while more severe causes of ankle pain, like a bone fracture, may require prescription medication or surgery.
Getting to the bottom of your ankle pain and back on your feet may be straightforward, or it may require a more intensive evaluation. Regardless, once you have your diagnosis, you can move forward with a treatment plan—a stepwise journey to pain relief and a return to everyday activities and exercise.
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