Ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries, affecting people of all ages and activity levels, and they’re one of the top reasons for missed sports participation.
When you sprain your ankle, the ligaments and tendons stretch beyond their limits. Typically, sprains heal on their own with conservative methods, such as rest, ice, elevation, and anti-inflammatory medications.
However, if you skip past these initial treatments, the ligaments could heal improperly. When you have ankle ligaments that remain damaged and stretched out, you put yourself at risk for repeat ankle sprains and chronic ankle instability.
If your ankle ligaments never heal, you could deal with chronic ankle instability indefinitely. However, at Foot and Ankle Institute of Colorado in Colorado Springs, Colorado, podiatrists Matthew Hinderland, DPM, Jordan Cameron, DPM, Trevor Whiting, DPM, and Shane Soto, DPM, lead our team in the expert care of chronic ankle instability.
In this month’s blog, we discuss our surgical options for chronic ankle stability to restore your mobility as we enter the new year.
When you have chronic ankle instability, you’re likely affected by its symptoms regularly, maybe even daily. Your ankle is swollen, painful, and constantly gives out. Your ankle probably also twists easily, especially when walking on uneven surfaces or participating in activities that require continual changes in motion.
Unfortunately, when you have chronic ankle instability, the more your ankle twists and rolls out of place, the more damaged your ligaments become. This continues the vicious cycle of loose ligaments that are unable to provide the necessary ankle stability, which is exactly why outside intervention is necessary.
To regain ankle stability and mobility, our Foot and Ankle Institute of Colorado team offers these surgical solutions. The right fit for you depends on your symptoms and instability severity.
As the name suggests, this surgical procedure tightens and stabilizes the loose ligaments in your ankle joint. During the surgery, your provider makes the necessary incisions to access your damaged ankle ligaments.
Depending on the location and severity of the ligament damage, they may remove some ligaments, make some ligaments shorter, or reattach loose ligaments to the bones in your ankle. The entire surgery takes about 2-3 hours and is an outpatient procedure, meaning you can go home the same day.
Ankle arthroscopy is a minimally invasive surgical option that uses only a few small incisions and a long, thin tube attached to a camera (arthroscope) to gain necessary imaging of your damaged ankle ligaments.
This surgery allows your provider to see the extent of your ligament damage and then insert the necessary tools to repair it. Because of its minimally invasive nature, this surgery has very few risks and a short recovery window.
To learn more about our treatment options for chronic ankle instability, schedule a consultation with our team by calling our office or using our online booking feature today.
