Irritated my right ankle...again

So for many months, maybe a year, I've been letting my right ankle settle down. I've not worn hiking boots, avoided shoes with work heels, done limited strengthening exercises and gradually become accustomed to zero-drop shoes. The pain around the lateral malleolus seemed to have disappeared.

Earlier I went for a walk in the woods and wore new Vivobarefoot hiking boots. Within an hour my ankle was sore and by the time I was home at two hours I was contemplating walking in really barefeet. This is disappointing and concerning. Disappointing as I'd hoped the problem had resolved and concerning as I've entered a long distance walk in a few months time and I don't want to be recovering from injuries.

Physio check up

Kim seems certain that there's no damage in my ankle now (after all it's done a couple of events) and that most of the pain is due to over sensitisation of nerves.  She recommended that I try to run as naturally as possible and keep on with the strengthening exercises. It was pretty sore after she'd massaged my feet and calf muscles.

Nothing to worry about

This evening I've been assured by Kim that my ankle niggles are probably down to a bit of fatigue/damage in the peroneus muscles. These run from the lateral border of the fibula to the outer border and sole of the foot - this probably explains the slightly 'odd' feeling of my middle toes. The two major peroneus muscles have ligaments that run around the lateral malleolus and this is a common site of referred 'trigger point' pain even though there is little muscle at that area. These diffuse areas of referred pain help explain why I have found it hard to say exactly where the pain is.

Trigger point around ankle from website

The physio checked for nerve tightness & trapping and muscle weakness and felt that there was no clear underlying damage. It is likely, as I suspected, that I have slightly overloaded the peroneus longus on Tuesday's faster run by inversion whilst running on the uneven roots and stones found in the woods. The observation that there is no tenderness around the malleolus helps to confirm that the connective tissue isn't unduly inflamed. By the common classification of sprains my niggle is a lot milder than a Grade 1 on the 1 to 3 scale.

So, I need to keep it mobilised to prevent scarring and increase the strengthening exercises. I already do wobble board single leg balance exercises which I find quite easy but I've been encouraged to add single leg calf raises to the programme to help reduce the risk of future injury.