Foot twisted – What to do?

Introduction

Twisting the foot, or rather the ankle, is one of the most common everyday injuries. Often it simply happens when you stumble or during sports. Women who wear shoes with heels are also likely to lose their balance more often. Often you can straighten up again without any pain or discomfort, but every now and then a twisted foot can hurt quite a lot.

Anatomical basics

To understand what exactly happens when the foot is bent, it is important to know a few simple anatomical basics. The foot is connected to the lower leg via the ankle joint. The ankle joint consists roughly of an upper and a lower ankle joint, which are secured by numerous ligaments.

The upper ankle joint is directly connected to the shin bone (tibia). Important ligaments are the outer ligament (Ligamentum collaterale laterale), which actually consists of three individual ligaments. These three ligaments are called the anterior talofibular ligament, posterior talofibular ligament and calcaneofibular ligament.

On the inside, the ankle joint is secured by the so-called “deltoid ligament” (also called inner ligament). This delta ligament also consists of several individual ligaments and runs from the inner ankle to the sole of the foot. It is important to know these anatomical principles, as it is these that are injured when the foot is bent.

But why does the foot bend in the first place? The foot can easily buckle due to a wrong movement, e.g. during sports or in everyday life. But there are also factors that favor this.

For one thing, high heels can lead to instability in the ankle joint and to a reduced balance in movement, thus causing the foot to buckle. On the other hand, shortened calf muscles can also cause the ankle to buckle. Similarly, weak shin muscles are not conducive.

The calf muscles pull the foot inwards and downwards, whereas the shin muscles act as an opponent. An imbalance can thus lead to a slight inward kinking in the ankle joint. The most common injury is to the outer ligament.

The most common injury when bending the foot is the so-called supination trauma. The outer ligament is damaged to varying degrees. The only possible cause is overstretching of the capsule and ligament structures.

Although individual fibers are torn, the ligament as such remains intact as a whole. This is then referred to as a distortion. In more serious cases, however, the ligament may be torn.