Foot & Ankle

Foot & Ankle Injuries and Conditions

Fellowship-Trained Care from Fractures to Full Joint Replacement

From our toes to the knee, discomfort can keep us from enjoying everyday life. The movement of our lower body depends on the foot, and its multitude of muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Combined with the ankle, this complex combination of heavily worked joints can become a source of significant pain.

Our goal at Gulf Orthopaedics is to not only alleviate foot and ankle discomfort, but produce meaningful, lasting improvements to flexibility, mobility, and range of motion.

Trauma, sports-related injury, and disease are the most common sources of foot and ankle pain. Typically, soreness stems from a fracture or injury to the ligaments of the ankle such as a sprain. Overuse injuries may lead to inflammation from mild aching in the joints to Achilles tendonitis.

If you experience ankle pain that doesn’t fade with a few days of rest, ice, and over-the-counter medication, you should seek medical attention. If the ankle is painful with swelling, skin discoloration, and weakness, seek help immediately with a trip to the ER.

Diagnosing the source of joint pain requires an understanding of the entire musculoskeletal system. Foot and ankle problems are often connected to an alignment issue somewhere else in the body.

Some of the many pain-causing ankle problems include:

• Achilles tendinitis – Achilles tendon inflammation
• Achilles tendon rupture – complete Achilles tendon tear
• Bursitis – inflammation of the cushioning sacs inside your ankle
• Osteoarthritis – ankle cartilage breakdown over time
• Rheumatoid arthritis – inflammation in joint linings
• Gout – inflammatory arthritis, featuring uric acid crystals
• Ankle sprain – overstretching or tearing of an ankle ligament
• Fractures – broken tibia, fibula, or talus bone
• Tarsal tunnel syndrome – nerve compression in the back of your foot
• Osteochondritis dissecans – loss of blood supply to the ankle bone and cartilage