Medial ankle pain

Pain in the ankle and the main facts

Ankle is a part of the body that is very susceptible to injuries, and the fact is, that a number of various reasons can provoke the pain in it. There are several types of ankle pain and they all have different characteristics. First of all, it is important to determine whether the pain is acute or chronic in nature. Acute pain usually disappears on its own after a few weeks, regardless of the cause, while chronic pain tends to be present for a much longer period of time. Various injuries can cause acute pain in the ankle, but ankle sprain is the most common one, and it is usually present in those who play football, basketball, tennis, either professionally or for fun.

Chronic pain is a bit more severe, mostly due to the fact that it does not go away as easily or as quickly as acute pain, and it usually indicates that the nerves and tendons in the affected area are injured or under significant stress. Overuse or some traumatic event are the causes in the greatest majority of the cases. This type of pain can further be divided into posterior, medial, lateral and anterior, depending on the location of the pain (whether the pain is associated with the Achilles tendon, or it can be felt inside, on the outside, or at the front of the ankle).

Medial ankle pain and the main causes

As for the medial ankle pain, the causes that have been identified so far include injury, fracture, arthritis, infection of the joint, tarsal tunnel syndrome.

Various injuries are, surely, one of the most common causes, and they usually result in stretching, spraining, or tearing of the nerves and tendons that are located in that area. Fractures affect the bone as well, which is why the tendons and ligaments are also affected. Even not so serious hairline fractures result in pain. As for arthritis, the types such as spondylitis, rheumatoid, gout and psoriatic arthritis inevitably result in medial ankle pain. Even though infections of the joint happen very rarely, when they do occur, the pain involved is considerable. Tarsal tunnel syndrome is also not so common condition, but besides the pain in the medial ankle, it is characterized by numbness and tingling in the affected area, due to the fact that nerves in the ankle are compressed.