The health benefits of engaging in sports are almost too numerous to count, but there’s always the threat of injury, including in your feet and ankles.
So that you’re aware of the risks, the team of podiatrists here at Neuhaus Foot and Ankle wants to take a closer look at five ways in which you can injure your feet and ankles when you play sports. Our goal here is not to discourage you from being active. Instead, it is to encourage you to exercise a little caution when it comes to your feet and ankles.
Let’s start with the most common injury in your ankle — a sprain. Each year in the United States, there are about two million ankle sprains, which occur when you overstretch the ligaments in your ankle.
These injuries typically occur when you twist your ankle or land badly. The resulting damage can range from mild to severe.
To protect your ankles from sprains, wear footgear that provides the proper ankle support, as well as the proper tread. In other words, heading out to play a game of soccer in your hard court tennis shoes is ill-advised, as is playing hoops without ankle support.
Your Achilles tendon stretches from your calf muscle to your heel and is the largest tendon in your body. If you overstress this tendon, you run the risk of a partial or complete rupture, which can put you on the sidelines for quite some time.
While there’s little you can do about an acute trauma that tears this connective tissue, most Achilles tendon issues stem from overuse. If you’re feeling a dull pain or ache in your Achilles tendon, especially after being active, we urge you to come to see as soon as possible so that we can help the tissue to heal properly.
Your plantar fascia is a band of tissue that runs from your heel to the base of your toes and provides support for the arches in your feet.
If you enjoy running, you can develop plantar fasciitis, which is a painful condition caused by tiny microtears in the tissue that leads to inflammation.
If you feel pain with your first steps in the morning, that is a clear sign that you may have plantar fasciitis, and we recommend that you come to see us for treatment.
If you hyperextend your big toe, you may incur a sprain in one of the small connective tissues. That type of injury is common among football players and has been famously known for sidelining even the biggest and toughest players.
Wearing shoes that fit properly — they support but don’t crowd your toes — is essential in preventing turf toe.
Should you develop this type of injury, giving the toe plenty of time to heal is paramount.
A stress fracture can occur in any of the small bones in your feet and ankles and includes small cracks in the bone, as well as bruising.
In most cases, stress fractures develop as a result of overuse or by picking up a new sport or suddenly ramping up the intensity of your activity.
To avoid stress fractures, practice caution when you try a new sport and start slowly. Also, ensure the right footwear.
If you do develop a sports injury in your feet or ankles despite your best prevention practices, we offer sports injury services that help you to heal quickly so that you can get back to your active lifestyle.
To learn more, please contact one of our offices in Hermitage, Brentwood, Nashville, Mount Juliet, Waverly, Smyrna, Gallatin, Columbia, Pulaski, or Lebanon, Tennessee, to set up an appointment.
