Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ankles

I'm doing it wrong?

doift — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 10:56:13 -0800

I think using an elliptical machine is causing tightness on the outsides of my ankles. What stretches should I do and what should I watch out for in my form while exercising? Mid-20s, female, reasonably healthy.

I stretch after working out and usually do a standing quad stretch, a butterfly stretch, and a stretch that I don't know a name for (sitting and touching the toes of one leg at a time, stretching the calf and the back of the knee.) I also do yoga and pilates occasionally, so I get some more thorough stretching in at those times. I almost certainly need a better stretching regimen, and especially want to include something that will help the tightness in my ankles, particularly the outsides. I also get some tightness in the arches of my feet occasionally. There's not a lot of extra space for stretching at my gym; that doesn't help.

I wonder if my form is creating this problem. I try to keep my toes and knees pointed forward, trying not to roll the feet too far in our out, and not keeping all my weight exclusively on the balls or heels of my feet. What might I be doing unconsciously that could be straining the outsides of my ankles? Another possibility is that I'm just too short (5'0") for the machines?

I buy whatever running shoes are on sale and feel comfortable and supportive. There is a local running store that does the whole "videotape you running on a treadmill and recommend shoes based on your stride" thing, but since I'm not actually running, would their analysis be relevant (and worth some extra cost)?

My goals are weight loss and overall fitness, I'm not anyone's definition of an athlete. I'm trying to diversify my workouts, but I like the elliptical and it's convenient to pop over to the gym for 45 minutes and not have to think about it, so it's become my default semi-daily workout and I want to make sure I'm doing it properly.

Cute shoes for thick ankles?

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 09:36:08 -0800

Skirt season! I would like to wear skirts! What are some good casual shoes/sandals for thick ankles (cankles, if you will)? I know they should have a heel and be pointy-toed, but can you give me links to examples of fun shoes (Zappos or Piperlime or Amazon)? FWIW, I mostly wear simple straight or A-line skirts that hit at (or right above) the knee, so not super-feminine or flowy.

Also, I'm terrible at heels, and I have to walk around outside a lot. Are the chunkier kinds of heels on Danskos (which I find comfortable) slimming at all? What about cowboy boots or shoe-boots? I'm not sure if these will hide or accentuate the thickness.

Thanks in advance!

Running on Empty

boyinmiami — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:09:33 -0800

Running Filter: I have signed up for half a marathon coming up at the end of January. I also signed up for a running group which helps you train for the half a marathon. I have missed about 60 precent of the running sessions. With the marathon less than a month away, I need some help getting ready for it. I have a few questions about this run coming up, so I will try and break them down in an organized fashions.

Pertaining info:

I am in good shape. The running sessions that I have been able to go, I have done distances of 8 miles, 10 miles, 11 miles. So have been getting close to the goal of 13.1 miles. I have made the last four sessions (have made about 6 of the total 12). Today I had to quit at 3.5 miles for reasons coming up.

I did get fitted for shoes at the local running store.

I do lift weights on my own (3 times a week), but haven't been running on my own other than the long runs once a week with the running group. When I first signed up for it, I was doing short runs on my own during the week but haven’t been doing it in the past 6 weeks.

Due to being constantly late for my runs, I have a tendency not to stretch before the long runs, though I always stretch after.

Questions/Issues

1. My first long distance run of 10 miles, I had excruciating knee pain. I iced my knees right after the run, and the pain did go away after about a day and was back to normal. This has been the case every time I have done long distances since then. After this I have made it a point to get good leg workouts. I need help in figuring out

a. If there are other things I can do to minimize the pain and soreness?
b. Any specific leg exercises I can do to strengthen that part of my body.

2. The last three times I have done long distances, I have gotten shin splints, and swollen ankles, and pain at the bottom of my feet. This pain has started probably on the my second mile the last time I ran and persisted for the whole run. After icing the area, it did feel better but didn’t disappear for a few days.

a. Is there a reason that my ankles and shin splints would start hurting now? (Since this has been the case in my last two runs only)

b. Any exercises or precautions I can take to make sure this doesn't happen?

c. Could these be my shoes? I got fitted for the shoes, but people seem to think this could be the culprit.

3. How much can stretching and not stretching be part of the problem?

Since the marathon is only a month away, what would you recommend I do to make sure I can make this run in the least amount of pain and the most amount of comfort? Exercises, tips and tricks, food technique and running schedule help will all be appreciated :)

Thank you in advance

Treating achilles tendonitis on my own

rosebuddy — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:03:10 -0800

I seem to have classic achilles tendonitis and am trying to treat it myself. What treatments worked for you? At what point should I just give up and go to a doctor and get professional assessment and physiotherapy? I've been doing a lot of hill walking without stretching adequately and am now paying the price. A couple of days ago, I found that both achilles tendons were very tight and sore when I got up in the morning, especially when I tried to walk down stairs. They hurt only slightly going upstairs and usually aren't sore at rest or when I do a little walking around the house. Starting yesterday, I've been doing the following.

Resting: no long walks, cycling, etc.
Icing: 3-4 times a day
(not Compressing yet. Should I?)
(not Elevating yet. There doesn't seem to be a need.)

I'm taking Tylenol to fight the inflammation and do gentle wall stretches when I get up in the morning. I've also started wearing good supportive shoes around the house instead of going barefoot.

Normally, I would already be at the sports medicine clinic instead of asking for advice here. But my new medical insurer is auditing my account after I submitted my first claim a month after signing up. They won't even pay for my prescriptions right now, and I have no idea how much longer it will take to resolve this. I'm trying to stay away from any medical consultation unless it's really needed.

Am I on the right track with self-therapy? Is there anything else I should consider?

Insensitive yet painful feet - the neurologist says it's caused by beer?

deeper red — Sat, 10 May 2008 11:57:51 -0800

Insensitive feet and ankles, yet painful feet, caused by drinking beer according to the neurologist. What is the name of the condition? Read on for more info. My 70 year old father suffers from painful feet, yet they're also insensitive -- he can prick them with a pin and not feel it. This extends up his ankles. He's been to see a neurologist who says that it's caused by the beer my dad drinks every night (Newcastle Brown beer). Sadly, the neurologist didn't give a name to this strange condition. What is it? We don't think it's gout because there are not gout-like symptoms, such as rashes.

Give me feet of steel.

middleclasstool — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:42:23 -0800

Resources for exercises for my feet, arches, ankles, and lower legs? I'm a distance runner -- or, more accurately, was one until after my first marathon, when IT Band Syndrome finally caught up with me. I've done physical therapy but will have to go back to the doc's for more treatment. Right now I can't do more than three miles for fear of making things worse.

I'm told the ITBS is likely a result of my overpronation, which I'd like to correct. Inspired by this post, I ran a mile barefoot on the treadmill last night, then spent the rest of the evening walking around barefoot and paying careful attention to feedback from my feet, and learned more about my gait from that than six months of running prior. I found myself working muscles in my feet and lower legs that I didn't even know I had. It was, in short, awesome, and has encouraged me that maybe I can build up muscles to help at least partially correct my gait so maybe I can ultimately transition to a lighter-weight shoe.

Thing is, I'm not finding many resources for strengthening exercises that target ankles, shin muscles and feet for overpronaters, so I turn to you for help. Resources need not be online. Books are good too, though I'd prefer not to kill trees. Give me feet of steel, people.

And yes, I will check with the doctor, but it'll be a bit before I can get in to see her.

Little ankles, bigger feet - please help my shoes fit

ataraxian — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 09:52:17 -0800

I have narrow ankles and fairly "large" feet (I have to wear size 10 shoes in order to have a comfortable fit). But because of my narrow ankles, I am having a hard time finding shoes that fit. I have tried thicker socks, a couple of different lacing techniques etc but nothing seems to help. My heels always move inside the shoes! Please help me!!!