Joe A Shaw PA-C - 7/30/2008

Question
All of a sudden my son can't move his ankle upwards.  If he puts his heel on the ground, he can barely move his foot up.  It also makes his toes almost look like they are cramping, but he says it doesn't hurt at all.  He is 14 and plays soccer.  He has never had this happen before. He just noticed it while taking off his sock and came and told me.

Thanks for any help you can give me!

Answer
Dawn, I would take him in to be evaluated since there was no known trauma and it is painless. It may be some type of cramp, but you need to find out. If he strained his foot or extensor tendons on top of the foot I could see where this might happen ..but this should be painful as well..
Make sure he has good color and temp in his foot (compared to the other one)