ankle pain when riding

[TigerTail]

anyone else?

The outsides of my ankles are agony after about 1/2 hr of walking at the min, I literally cant trot as rising makes me scream and getting off is as bad lol.

Any ideas suggestions welcome

 

[Toffee44]

GP before you ride next I think.

 

[ozpoz]

Flexi stirrups might be worth a try.

 

[Gloi]

Have you tried taking your shoes off?

I get this unfortunately and haven't really solved it. I have always had problems with my ankles and breaking one didn't help. As I don't compete I get by by riding long, having my foot fully home in the stirrup, not taking much weight on my feet and always wearing sturdy boots. My main way of getting around it though is by having an Icelandic horse which helps avoiding having to do much rising trot.

 

[mynutmeg]

I would recommend flexi stirrups - try them and see. Also consider seeing your gp

 

[TigerTail]

Ive got some sprengers to try - shall see if its any better in those.

Im hypermobile so Im not sure whether that is playing a part here tbh its a possibility. Im fine bare back so its obviously the pressure down the stirrups, and even spending the entire ride trying to lift my knees to take the weight out its as bad as usual - though sitting many many spooks doesnt help

 

[mynutmeg]

TT thats interesting you are fine without stirrups, i would consider either trying sprenger ones or the cage type endurance ones.

or what I have is spring ones with cages (I have really messed up ankles)

 

[TigerTail]

How do the cages help?

I think its pretty straightforward why theyre fine without stirrups- no pressure/weight!

 

[EllenJay]

Are your leathers too short - meaning that your heels are being pushed too far down?

 

[Yertis]

You could try the wedge shaped dressage treads but with the higher side to the outside, that should relieve some of the pressure on the tendon under your ankle bone.

 

[TigerTail]

Great idea Yertis thankyou

 

[Moomin1]

I get this, and its excruciating! I find that it is a lot worse when I ride with shorter stirrups. I would love to try the sprengers but I am a bit panicky about not having safety stirrups :-(

 

[Pearlsasinger]

You could try the wedge shaped dressage treads but with the higher side to the outside, that should relieve some of the pressure on the tendon under your ankle bone.

I saw those recently and decided to try them, I also use flexi stirrups, so hope I will be able to combine the two.

You have all my sympathy TT, I broke my ankle 6 years ago and am old enough to be your mother, so my difficulty is understandable. I do hope your condition doesn't deteriorate. I can recommend physiotherapy, it has worked wonders for me recently.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

I have to ride in flexi stirrups or I'm I'm pain with my ankles.....brother has cages on his flexi ones so he doesn't worry about foot getting caught as he has two fused ankles that can't bend.

 

[TigerTail]

Thanks Pearl Im only 25 and feel at least twice that now having ridden today

Ive had physio on various bits of me and its not a fix unfortunately it works on things like injuries but not on the HMS. Wondering whether the OT can make me some ankle supports lke my wrist braces - cept I dont fancy coming off in them and getting stabbed in the leg by a strip of metal

 

[Toffee44]

Are you pushing your heels down too much and then pushing forward your lower leg. I used to get horrible knee pain until a friend sorted out my position.

 

[Rose Folly]

Sounds like arthritis. It's hell - I know! Haven't got round to flexi stirrups yet, but meanwhile ride very long indeed.

Can you turn your foot to 'find' the stirrup? I can't! Nowadays I just do lane hacking. It's mortifying as when I get on someone has to guide the stirrup onto my right foot, or vice versa, as I have no mobility in it at all - SO humiliating!

 

[Gemzie121]

I have a surgically fused ankle; for me I find wearing neoprene ankle supports does help (you can get them from boots but poundland actually do ones that are fine!), with my stirrups a bit longer (I used to ride very short but I now feel more comfortable longer) and I do tend to ride with my foot more home in the iron as having my foot on the ball would make my ankle painful (and put it under more pressure) although I can still get my heel down with a fusion its more comfortable if I don't. I am lucky that the owner of the ponies I ride has the bendy leg irons so my foot will not get caught. I have also tried the sloping treads in the past and those were comfortable (this was before my fusion). The best boots I have found are the mountain horse lace up ones with half chaps (like walking boots with the riding sole) as they are really supportive but comfortable.

 

[tankgirl1]

I have awful conformation in my lower leg and feet, and often get excruciatingly painful ankles when riding. I have plastic stirrups which are a bit more comfortable. I'd love to try the flexi stirrups, just need to save up

 

[KarlyHT]

I have hyper mobility too and the sprenger stirrups are a god send! I literally can't ride in anything else!

 

[TigerTail]

I have hyper mobility too and the sprenger stirrups are a god send! I literally can't ride in anything else!

So glad someone else on here has it too! Is it the outside of your ankles, like theyre trying to point inwards towards each other? And which sprengers as theres oodles of them lol

 

[ShadowFlame]

Im hypermobile so Im not sure whether that is playing a part here tbh its a possibility. Im fine bare back so its obviously the pressure down the stirrups, and even spending the entire ride trying to lift my knees to take the weight out its as bad as usual - though sitting many many spooks doesnt help

I'm hypermobile too and yes, it plays a massive part in ankle pain. I have the exact same problem.

Ive had physio on various bits of me and its not a fix unfortunately it works on things like injuries but not on the HMS. Wondering whether the OT can make me some ankle supports lke my wrist braces - cept I dont fancy coming off in them and getting stabbed in the leg by a strip of metal

You need a new physio. Utter rubbish.

Physiotherapy will not fix hypermobility, but it will manage it. It's a case of doing exercises that will tighten the right muscles, which will in turn hold the joints where they should be. As an example, my shoulder was knocked out by a fall last year. It crunches, clicks, sits around 3" lower than my other shoulder and can be complete agony. 6 months of physio and it's coming back up, less painful and doesn't crunch anymore, but it was a case of strengthening the muscles behind the shoulder blade to "hold" it in position. Long, painful, slightly irritating process, but it works.

Same can be done for ankles, which is what we've now moved on to You can get braces / supports, and I do use ankle supports when out on long hacks, but they're not recommended. Reason for that being that it takes the strain off the muscles, they don't work so hard, they get weaker as oppose to stronger, you end up with more pain and even more problems.

I also use reflex stirrups, which do help. I sypathise. Hypermobility is a pain in the back side!

 

[Stroppy Mare]

I'm hypermobile and sympathise with your ankles turning in, I didn't know anyone else did that like me - I can gross people out by standing on the outside of my ankle completely with my leg upright (without putting weight through it) on both feet. My right ankle is the worst after many ankle sprains (primarily caused due to hypermobility and pes cavus) and I wear one of these http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41pfYn-DtbU - bought from boots. Comfy and yet supportive. I don't find that the normal elastic splints work, I may aswell have nothing on for the good they do.

I'd definitely give the sprengers a whirl though, if you decide to buy some I'd recommend the bow balance due to the shaping of the iron, it helps much more with your ankle position, and the tread is wider so more foot in contact rather than a narrow pressure point.

Also agree with lengthening your stirrups, and doing some strengthening exercises around your ankle.

 

[samlf]

I have hypermobility too.
My ankles are worse because I injured one of the very badly whilst riding (due to the hypermobility) and have irreparable soft tissue damage too as a result.
I use flexi stirrups and a rather expensive ankle support - it's made by 'push braces' and ordered through a physio. Theres no way I'd be able to ride at all without this.

I also find that lots of changes of pace etc help as you keep using the ankle so its not stuck in one position.

 

[TigerTail]

V interesting folks - I have been looking at the sprenger bow ones - how do they work as such?

I do weight training which has stabilised my hips and shoulders a lot, as well as improving my wrist and grip strength - il ask my trainer for some ankle specific stuff - suppose my old ballet ones of a band around the foot and pointing against it would help too.

 

[ShadowFlame]

il ask my trainer for some ankle specific stuff - suppose my old ballet ones of a band around the foot and pointing against it would help too.

Yup My physio gave me a theraband, and in her words, there's 4 muscles in your ankle. Literally up, down, left and right. Loop band over your foot, flex foot in one direction against the band, hold for 10 seconds, release. Repeat. It's just a case of building it up and keeping it going until you can feel the muscles working.

I'm not sure about Sprengers (I couldn't justify £150 on a pair of stirrups! ), but Compositi do some reflex stirrups for £20 odd. Wide footbed, and they have shock absorbers underneath the tread. They don't solve the problem, but they do help.

 

[KarlyHT]

Mine are the sprenger bow balance ones... The blue ones! My ankles sit at wierd angles still but the stirrups stop the pain!!

Good luck!

 

[Flame_]

I had ankle pain after riding further than I have done in ages the other day, and thinking back I did used to get it sometimes. A chiropractor once told me I was hyper-mobile but she might have been talking rubbish. How do you tell?

I was looking at the Sprenger stirrups but I'm going to try the wedge treads first, with the thick bit on the inside as I think it was the sloping angle that was the problem, just because if I can solve the problem for less than a tenner, why spend over £100?

 

[mynutmeg]

How does everyone find bow stirrups? I have arthritis in both ankles and metal pins/rods in my right leg. I was recommended cages as it would keep my foot level. I am hypomobile rather then hyper. I hope you find something that works!

This is me - both ankles are fused and I have very little movement at all. I use flexi stirrups for absorbing the movement of the horse and toe cages to stop my feet slipping through as I am unable to keep my heels down.

Haven't heard of bow stirrups so can't comment on those.

 

[Spotsrock]

Gp. Now. And don't leave till they refer for physio. I took 8 months to heal (but I continued riding). Is your horse wide by any chance? I went from coblet to heavy ardennes and it knackered my ankles. I used angled stirrup treads which helped.