Success Story - Ankle Pain

Patient in her mid-20s was coming in for another issue and once that was resolved, she decided to consult Dr. Hoberland about her on-going ankle issues that she had experienced since she was a kid. She came in stating that she had fractured her growth plates around the age of 12, after her recovery she figured it had fully healed but continued to have some lingering pain and discomfort. She told Dr. Hoberland that she constantly felt that her ankles needed to ‘crack’ but was never able to and never found relief. She experienced throbbing pain at night and was at a loss for any type of relief. When Dr. Hoberland evaluated her, she determined that this patient was overcompensating with other muscles/tendons in the foot that were causing strain on her ankles, especially her achilles tendon. With this diagnosis, Dr. Hoberland did gentle adjustments to her ankle and gave her at home exercises to help strengthen the weakened muscles needed for correct support. She also made corrections and suggestions to help her fix any errors in her gate while running and walking. This patient was an avid long distance runner, so these corrections gave her immense improvement with her training. Dr. Hoberland also discovered varicose veins on the inside of her foot that were contributing to some of the discomfort and pressure she was feeling. Adding compression socks to wear during her runs to minimize the pain which also had a great impact on her training and everyday movements. This patient now states that she is pain free, the throbbing pains at night have disappeared, and she no longer feels the urge to ‘crack’ her ankles!