Don’t let leg and ankle pain stop you in your tracks, we can help
You can have problems with your hips, knees, ankles or feet in isolation, or you can find that problems with these joints affect one another. This might be from an injury, periods of inactivity or wear and tear. using our body unevenly due to work related tasks or favoured postures (standing on one leg) and in some cases, it can be related to how your body developed. Problems can arise from having one leg longer than the other, having flat or higher foot arches or connective tissue disorders (hyper mobility).
Our osteopaths will perform a functional assessment that takes into account how your legs and feet work together, provide you with a diagnosis, treatment plan and rehabilitation program.
Common conditions affecting the lower limb that we see in clinic are:
- plantar fasciitis
- Achilles tendonitis
- shin splints
- ligament sprains
- muscle tears
- meniscal tears
- clicky hip
- hip impingement (CAM, PINCER, Labral tears)
- arthritis at the knee
- hip and ankle
- growing pains at the knees
- hips and ankles e.g osgood schlatters
What your pain might feel like
The pain will vary depending on the joint or muscle affected. The lower limb is a weightbearing joint so it’s common to have some limitation in how you are moving as putting weight through a sore joint or muscle will be painful. It is not uncommon to experience swelling, redness, joint restriction and weakness when you are experiencing lower limb problems.
How we treat hip, knee, ankle and foot pain
Firstly, we’ll assess you to determine what’s most likely causing you pain. We use common orthopaedic tests to assess your joint movement and give you a diagnosis. In some cases, we may also refer you for further tests or imaging. We treat you by easing tense muscles using soft tissue therapy (massage) and restoring joint movement through articulation and traction to achieve normal, pain-free function. Depending on your injury, we may use dry needling (western acupuncture) to improve the local blood circulation and promote healing. We can gently ease tense muscles using soft tissue therapy (massage) and joint articulation to restore normal, pain-free function. We’ll also prescribe exercises to aid your recovery and stop the problem from coming back.