If you have pain on the outside of your ankle, your peroneal tendon might be to blame. This tendon runs from your lower leg to the middle of the outside of your foot. It passes over the outside of your ankle so when this tenon is irritated or injured, you can have pain in your foot and ankle. Here are some of the symptoms of a peroneal tendon injury and treatments that might help.

Symptoms Of Peroneal Tendon Injury

The peroneal tendon can suffer from degenerative injury as well as an acute injury. If the damage is caused by a sudden increase in activity such as beginning running after being sedentary, you might experience pain in your foot and ankle over the area of the injury. The pain might be worse when you turn your foot from side to side. If you don't seek proper treatment, the pain might get gradually worse and affect you every time you run or exercise.

If the injury is chronic, your pain may come and go over the years, but never go away completely. The arch in your foot may get higher as a result of changes to the tendon. You may even lose some stability in your ankle and be at a higher risk of an ankle sprain.

Treatments For A Peroneal Tendon Injury

Your podiatrist may recommend a period of rest so the tendon can heal. You may be asked to stay off your feet as much as possible and you might even have to wear a cast. Once healing is underway and some of the pain has diminished, you can slowly resume your usual activities. However, you might need to wear a brace for support until your tendon has fully healed. Your podiatrist might also advise you on shoes to wear when you run or play sports and shoes for daily wear. Wearing improper shoes can aggravate a peroneal tendon injury and slow healing.

You may go to physical therapy right away for pain management with heat or ultrasound treatments. Once your tendon has partially healed, you might begin exercises that strengthen the muscles that support your ankle. Range of motion exercises are helpful too because they restore full movement of your ankle after it has been held in place in a cast. Once you learn how to do the exercises properly, you can do them at home to help your foot recover quicker. An acute injury might be quicker to heal than a degenerative injury that has caused significant damage to the tendon.

If physical therapy, rest, and wearing a brace or cast do not help you heal, your podiatrist might recommend surgery to repair the tendon. It's important to follow your podiatrist's advice so you don't cause more damage to the tendon that causes chronic pain. Also, other structures in your foot can cause ankle pain. Therefore, you should see a podiatrist for an examination and diagnosis when you experience sudden pain in your foot or ankle or when you develop a chronic pain that comes and goes.