# Ankle pain



## aiidoneus

This season I really wanted to improve my carving (not scarves). They have improved significantly. However, as I have gotten better I have noticed ankle pain in my lead foot. It is on the outside of my foot, just below the ankle bone.

I mostly notice the pain at the end of the day. But it is not the same as a tired muscle soreness. The odd time I notice a little bit of pain in the ankle when on my toeside, pushing my knees into down and into the hill. I tend to need to really push my knees apart, but I find this is almost twisting my ankle awkwardly.

Anyone else had this issue? I am thinking it is one of two things. Either I am trying to get my knees too far apart, or possibly just overuse.

On a side note, I had a friend who is a level 3 instructor look at my form. He did not complain about lower body position, mostly just that I can improve my back position on heelside. 

Setup:
Board: NS Proto CT 154
Bindings: Burton Cartels (2012)
Boots: Size 10, Burton Rulers (2012)
Stance: 22"
Angles: was +18/-18, moved to +15/-15
Weight: 145 lbs
Shoulder Width: 19"

I do a lot of switch riding, so I really like to keep the same angles.


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## boarderaholic

If the evaluator did not mention form with your lower body, it might be worth it to fiddle around a little bit with your binding angles. Also, how strong are your ankles? That *may* play a small roll in the pain and strengthening might help alleviate the discomfort.


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## element

i have a similar issue. I also ride close to as much switch as regular... with similar - but not as aggressive a setup on the angle... also using burton ruler boots (2011 model i think...)

I found that my boot started to press into that area just below the front foot's umm... under ankle bone... bone.

I've wanted to just heat up the boot and push that area out more. Or even reduce some of the padding/pressure in that area inside the liner... not sure which to try - or if both are a bad idea, tho the latter would be more permanent for the burton rulers.


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## aiidoneus

boarderaholic said:


> If the evaluator did not mention form with your lower body, it might be worth it to fiddle around a little bit with your binding angles. Also, how strong are your ankles? That *may* play a small roll in the pain and strengthening might help alleviate the discomfort.


I am by no means an olympic athlete, but I am pretty active. In the summer, I bike, run, and longboard. Winter is pretty much 100% snowboard, roughly 3 hours a day, and all weekend.

One thing I did forget, this past summer I did mildly sprain my right foot (lead foot). However, it was near the start and never noticed any pain with my other activities. So it could be still weak in certain areas, and now that I have gotten better I am stressing that area.

I have scaled my angles back, but I only spent one day at +15/-15. Since it was already sore, I doubt I would have seen an instant recovery. Going to keep them this way for a few days and see how it goes.

The pain isn't terrible, but it has got a worse. This weekend was family day (Canadian long weekend), so I put a solid 4 days of riding in.


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## aiidoneus

element said:


> i have a similar issue. I also ride close to as much switch as regular... with similar - but not as aggressive a setup on the angle... also using burton ruler boots (2011 model i think...)
> 
> I found that my boot started to press into that area just below the front foot's umm... under ankle bone... bone.
> 
> I've wanted to just heat up the boot and push that area out more. Or even reduce some of the padding/pressure in that area inside the liner... not sure which to try - or if both are a bad idea, tho the latter would be more permanent for the burton rulers.


Does the 2011 model have optional j-bars? I wonder if that is causing some pressure.


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## element

i'm at +12/-12 on my end.... 
I'm getting the feeling that the constant bending is pushing a bit harder on the front foot - which aggravates the area under the ankle bone after a full day or 2 of boarding... you don't feel anything from your boots?

To your 2nd question... No optional jbars on mine, they're quite mandatorily attached and puffed out into the "under ankle" area in question


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## element

does the 2012 have a place for JBAR inserts?
Here's what my inliners look like:









the grey deal's pretty well glued on there from the start.


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## aiidoneus

Yep, and that is were I get the pain.


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## element

for me - last sprain was years and years ago - before I started boarding.

This isn't cramps on my side, but actually a very sore spot on the outside of the foot, on that little bone that protrudes just under the big ankle bone... if that makes any sense...


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## element

i believe what makes the big ankle bone on the outside is the fibula. So right below that - there is a protrusion (differing in size from person to person) that appears to be from the calcaneus:









Pic - courtesy of here: Ankle Anatomy - Orthogate

So assuming that's correct, the calcaneus is where i'm feelin this unhappiness.

I can see it now - kid falls over on the mountain, grabs his boot, and starts screeming "owww, my calcaneus! my calcaneus!!!"


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## aiidoneus

Snowolf said:


> Did you have any pain like this ever before the sprain?
> 
> I sprained my left (front foot) ankle 2 years ago and to this day, I get stress cramps in it after hard riding for 6 to 8 hours of steeps off piste conditions.


Nope. As for the position, mine is between the fibula and calcaneus. I had some stuff to do yesterday, and didn't get out riding. The pain has reduced significantly. I think it is likely a pressure point due to the j-bars. Tonight I am going to pay more attention to what I am doing in that area while riding.


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## wrathfuldeity

An ankle injury can take a long while to recover; and if not taken care of at the beginning can cause problems for a lifetime. Besides muscles and tendons there is cartilage which as you get older can be an issue. 

However, if the pain is from extended, over use, or ramping up your game you might consult a PT to figure out some strengthening, stretching and range of motion exercises to beef up/deal with the issue.


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## Argo

element said:


> i believe what makes the big ankle bone on the outside is the fibula. So right below that - there is a protrusion (differing in size from person to person) that appears to be from the calcaneus:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Pic - courtesy of here: Ankle Anatomy - Orthogate
> 
> So assuming that's correct, the calcaneus is where i'm feelin this unhappiness.
> 
> I can see it now - kid falls over on the mountain, grabs his boot, and starts screeming "owww, my calcaneus! my calcaneus!!!"


The protrusion that makes your heel is the calc, the protrusions on the medial and lateral aspects of the ankle are the malleoli or the most distal portions of the tibia and fibula that wrap around the talus forming the ankles joint.... There are tons of ligaments holding it together along with multiple articular surfaces in there. 

Is it the heel or the "bumps on the side"?

Wrath is right on in his statement too.....


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## JeffreyCH

I'm not sure if it makes any difference, but did you just switch to Burton boots this year? A couple years ago when buying my first pair of boots I tried on a bunch. I tried 5-6 different models of Burton's and found that the heel/ankle area put some weird pressure on my ankles. Every pair felt like the padding meant to hold my heel in place was to high for my ankles, every time I would step down it felt like my ankle and heel were separating a little putting strain on the ligaments and tendons. Maybe they just needed to be packed out a little so my heel would sit all the way down without putting pressure on my ankle :dunno: I just figured if they were uncomfortable walking around the store for a few minutes no sense in taking a chance that they would be that way all the time. I did try on a couple pairs of DC and the ankle part felt fine but the toe box felt very skinny and I hate having my toes smashed. I finally found a pair of Van's that fit my weird shaped foot/ankle.


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## element

Argo said:


> The protrusion that makes your heel is the calc, the protrusions on the medial and lateral aspects of the ankle are the malleoli or the most distal portions of the tibia and fibula that wrap around the talus forming the ankles joint.... There are tons of ligaments holding it together along with multiple articular surfaces in there.
> 
> Is it the heel or the "bumps on the side"?
> 
> Wrath is right on in his statement too.....


It's what this person has termed in their picture as "weird bone sticking out thingy"









tho doesn't stick out that far for me...


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## Sick-Pow

Sounds like an aggravated pressure point from your shape of foot (photo). Find boots that fit, etc,etc, then get them heat molded, and maybe visit a great boot fitter. You have a protrusion that not everyone has, boot makers cannot account for that.


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## element

Sick-Pow said:


> Sounds like an aggravated pressure point from your shape of foot (photo). Find boots that fit, etc,etc, then get them heat molded, and maybe visit a great boot fitter. You have a protrusion that not everyone has, boot makers cannot account for that.


yup - i agree that it sounds like a pressure point. 
the rulers are thus far the best fitting boots i've found, tried on a boatload at numerous shops. Rulers were the only ones i can go hours w/o pain, but eventually it hits. 

Heat molded, etc - yes. At this point i'm thinking more along the lines of somehow extra heat molding and forcing the area in question out a bit extra... or what I noted in my 1st post in this thread...


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## Richard123

aiidoneus said:


> This season I really wanted to improve my carving (not scarves). They have improved significantly. However, as I have gotten better I have noticed ankle pain in my lead foot. It is on the outside of my foot, just below the ankle bone.
> 
> I mostly notice the pain at the end of the day. But it is not the same as a tired muscle soreness. The odd time I notice a little bit of pain in the ankle when on my toeside, pushing my knees into down and into the hill. I tend to need to really push my knees apart, but I find this is almost twisting my ankle awkwardly.
> 
> Anyone else had this issue? I am thinking it is one of two things. Either I am trying to get my knees too far apart, or possibly just overuse.
> 
> On a side note, I had a friend who is a level 3 instructor look at my form. He did not complain about lower body position, mostly just that I can improve my back position on heelside.
> 
> Setup:
> Board: NS Proto CT 154
> Bindings: Burton Cartels (2012)
> Boots: Size 10, Burton Rulers (2012)
> Stance: 22"
> Angles: was +18/-18, moved to +15/-15
> Weight: 145 lbs
> Shoulder Width: 19"
> 
> I do a lot of switch riding, so I really like to keep the same angles.


I suffer from Plantar Fasciitis and I have been suggested Grocare products (Nervica and Acidim). It has worked wonders to reduce my pain and has made walking easier for me.


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