Treatment of Foot and Ankle Sports Injuries
Foot & Ankle Sports Injuries
Sprains, Achilles injuries, tendon tears, stress fractures, and cartilage lesions of the ankle — evaluated and treated by Benjamin R. Williams, MD, with a focus on returning you to activity safely.
The injuries we see most
Ankle sprains are the most common injury in sport, and most settle with rehabilitation. The ones that matter are the ones that do not.
Achilles injuries range from tendonitis that builds over a season to a sudden rupture during a push-off.
Peroneal tendon injuries cause pain and snapping behind the outer ankle bone, and are frequently mistaken for a sprain that will not resolve.
Stress fractures develop when training load outpaces the bone's ability to adapt, and often announce themselves as a specific point of pain that worsens through a run.
Lisfranc injuries of the midfoot are easy to miss and consequential when missed.
Cartilage lesions of the talus often begin as an ankle sprain and are found later, when deep ankle pain and swelling have not resolved.
The sprain that is not getting better
If an ankle sprain is still painful and swollen six weeks on, something else is usually going on — a cartilage lesion, a peroneal tendon tear, an unrecognized fracture, or ligaments that have healed loose. That is the point at which imaging is worth doing rather than waiting longer.
Treatment
Most sports injuries of the foot and ankle are treated without surgery: a period of protection, then a structured rehabilitation programme that restores motion, strength, and balance before returning to sport. Getting that rehabilitation right matters more than most athletes expect, particularly the balance and proprioception work that prevents the next sprain.
Surgery is reserved for injuries that will not heal adequately on their own or that leave the joint unstable — a ruptured Achilles in a high-demand athlete, chronic instability after failed rehabilitation, a displaced fracture or Lisfranc injury, a symptomatic cartilage lesion.
Getting back to sport
Return is guided by what the injured limb can actually do, not by the calendar. Full motion, strength approaching the other side, and confidence with cutting and landing all come before clearance. Returning early is how an injury becomes a recurring one.
If you would like to have additional information on foot and ankle sports injuries or would like to learn more about treatments of the injuries, please contact Benjamin R. Williams, M.D., serving the communities of Bloomington, Burnsville, MN.
