Question
I'm a dance major, and I sprained my ankle about 10 months ago during dance class.  I've taken time off now and then, gone through some physical therapy, and while I have seen improvement in my ankle, I still have one major problem.  I'm unable to completely pointe my foot.  I also notice the tension in my ankle when I either sit on my knees or even have a blanket adding weight to my foot.  During dance class, I have quite a bit of pain in my achilles area when doing exercises where my foot is pointed.  I was wondering what might be causing this.  I've read about impingement, and I've thought about scheduling a re-eval with my orthopedic doctor, but I'm hoping you can give me some advice on what to do before I spend any money on doctor visits.

Answer
Hi Kat,

Typically, with an ankle sprain, healing may be slow and at times you may experience pain that does not completely go away.  It also sounds like you will need to do some aggressive Achilles stretching to decrease the tightness and pain.  You may want to consider a night splint to stretch you out at night and another splint while you dance.

The products can be found at http://www.ourdoctorstore.com/katz/store/index.asp?department_id=139

See products 130 and 3032.  These may be helpful.

Impingement is difficult to diagnose.  You likely are still healing and with dancing the area gets irritated.

With these simple treatments, ice and stretching you should improve over time.

If not you may then want to see a Podiatrist that specializes in ankle problems.

Good Luck.

Marc Katz, DPM
Advanced Podiatry
Tampa, FL
www.thetampapodiatrist.com
www.tampacryosurgery.com
www.fix-my-foot.com