In this video, I'm going to show you how to relieve ankle
pain at home using no special equipment. Stay tuned!
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe coming to you from SpineCare
in Saint Joseph, Michigan. In this video, I'm going to go
over a very easy-to-follow three-part guide that is geared
towards tackling ankle pain at home. All of these parts work
together but they are a little bit different. So, if you want
to get the best results, put them all together. Take what is
most effective for you. As a bonus, again, all of these
exercises can be done at home, don't require any special
equipment and make it quick ankle pain relief even in as
little as 30 seconds. So, let's get started. In this part,
we're going to focus on getting quick ankle pain relief with a
nice, soft tissue release known as muscle scraping or gua sha.
It's wonderful and very easy to do. We just need a couple
things. The first being a large metal spoon. You want one with
a little bit more thickness. You'll get better results.
Next, we need a form of lubrication. I'm going to be
using coconut oil but you can use any massage lotions or pain
cream such as Biofreeze or icy hot. Just start off by coating
the whole foot and the shin right here, calf, and Achilles
with lubrication and when it comes to lubrication, a little
bit more is always better. So, what I'm going to do is take my
spoon right here and doesn't matter what part of the spoon
you use. You can use the rounded portion or the handle,
I find that using the handles a little bit easier. You're just
going to start pretty much right at the bottom of the
ankle. You're going to just put your spoon about 30 to 45
degrees and press into the skin and then do a slow stroke up
apply enough pressure where it feels like it's a nice self
massage but not causing any discomfort also with this one
you only want to do soft tissue avoid hard bony spots because
that can cause irritation but I just do this for about three
to five repetitions, applying just enough pressure in there to get
a nice self release but not causing discomfort and then
from there I'll just move over to a different spot when you do
this you may find that one spot just feels very gritty almost
like sandpaper that's usually a spot adhesion and you want to
focus on that a little bit more help break that up you also may
find that when you do this redness starts to form at the
top of the skin I don't know if you can see it right here on
this video but that's blood flow coming to the top to the
surface of the skin and that usually promotes healing you're
going to do this all the way around the ankle really
focusing on also the Achilles, around the shin and then into
the calf. You also want to focus again on any spot that feels
just tight and achy and needs more tension and really try to
break up those adhesions like right here I'm really feeling
it, I don't know again if you can see that redness forming
right there but over my Achilles right here it's really
tight and achy so from there what I like to do is then dig a
little bit more around the bony spots around the ankle the
inside and the outside so I'll take the tip of the spoon right
here and then I'll just slowly explore that area really
digging in and focusing on any spots that just feel tight and
achy so I'll do that on the inside in the outside of the
ankle. From there, I like to really focus more around the
heel and the top of the foot and then shins into the calf
because all of that goes into the ankle. You want to pretty
much focus on the whole picture at this point. From there, what
I'll do is attack the soft tissue at a little bit of a
different angle. So, instead of going straight up with it, I'll
take my spoon and go roughly 30 to 45 degrees and then go
upwards like this. You may find that it just helps a little bit
more. So, experiment with it and when ever works to help
break up those adhesions and get more pain relief you know
really take that and go with it so once we've gone around the
whole ankle the top of the foot and everything else I like to
incorporate a little bit more dynamic movement into the ankle
to again target the muscles just a little bit differently
so what I'll do is I will just lift my foot up like this do
the same thing again what you'll notice is that it just
hits it a little bit differently so go all the way
around and then lower the foot down like this and do the
thing. You can bring the foot inwards, you can bring the foot
outwards, and just attack spots that need it just a little bit
more. From there, what I really like to do is target movements
that cause pain into the ankle. Let's say that I get most of my
ankle pain when I go in like this and then lift my foot up
like it's almost like pinpoint to one spot. That's when I'm
gonna take my spoon and just really dig into those spots
that need the most amount of attention. So, if it's a
pinpoint spot of pain, really just focus on that, throw some
in there and then afterwards, do it before and after and
hopefully that's going to help. You also can use this technique
to break up like tightness that's causing popping or
clicking sensations into the ankle. So, do the same thing.
Move your foot through motions. If one feels like it's just
popping or clicking, stop right there and then dig in there and
hopefully that just helps out but once you're done on one
side, always switch to the other and keep them both in
balance. In this part, we're going to focus on getting rid
of ankle pain by helping to improve mobility or range of
motion into the ankle. We're going to focus on the big
movements of the ankle which is dorsiflexion bringing the foot
back towards us. Plantar flexion bringing it away
inversion or inward rotation and then inversion and outward
rotation. This first exercise is going to focus a little bit
more on dorsiflexion. It really helps if you have more pinching
pain right here at the front of the ankle. We're going to start
off in a scissored stance just like this. Make sure to put a
pillow or towel underneath the knee that is touching the
floor. For extra comfort. The other knee is going to be bent
roughly at 90 degrees. I'm going to take my hands. I'm
going to place it over the top of the knee just like this.
Press down just a little bit to make sure that the foot does
not lift off the floor during this exercise. You want to make
sure that the foot is kept flat as possible. Kind of like a
stable anchor point. First movement is very easy. Let's
have very good upright posture. We're going to lean forward
lunge into it while keeping the foot flat. The more that you go
forward, the more that you're going to feel a stretch happen
into the front of foot into the front of the ankle. Really
focus on that. You kind of want to let your knee go pass the toes
also. Once we hit a very comfortable stretch, let's hold
this one for about 15 to 20 seconds. From there, you're
just going to relax, take a breather, and then repeat this
up to five times. With each repetition, challenge yourself.
Stretch more into it and really get that ankle moving just a
little bit more. From there, you can do a little bit more
different motions to take it to the next level. So, instead of
going straight forward with it, a just going to turn my knee
slightly inwards and then repeat keeping the foot flat
again you'll notice that it hits the ankle and the foot
just a little bit differently so experiment with that take it
further in on the next repetition if you feel that one
certain spot like right here for me just hits it a little
bit better throw more repetitions in always target
the spots that need it a little bit more but you can also go
outwards with it and explore all of these motions you can
take this one to the next next level by incorporating a little
bit more dynamic move in there by doing a circular rotation
and it doesn't matter if you go clockwise or counterclockwise.
Let's start off by doing it just counterclockwise. I'm
going to go forward and then I'm just going to use my hands
right here to control my knee to do circular motions. So, I'm
rocking my body forward and backward while I do a circular
motion with my knee right here which then will put it into the
ankle. When you do this, if you feel that like one certain
movement like the downward swing right here is what is
causing a bit more discomfort it's really tight and achy make
note of that work through the movements that you feel are
causing more issues so you can help break up any adhesions
tightness and hopefully get some pain relief but I would
try to do this slowly this should take you about five
seconds to do one complete circle and try to do about 10
to 15 repetitions from there go in the opposite direction so if
you went counterclockwise switch to doing it clockwise
again going through any motions a little bit more that you feel
are tight and and I hope that this one gives you very quick
ankle pain relief. So next, let's focus a little bit more
on plantar flexion. That is taking our toes away from us.
With this one, we're going to use our body weight and gravity
to do all of the hard work. We're going to start off on the
floor on all fours just like this. If this causes
discomforting to the knees, make sure to put a pillow or
towel underneath them for extra comfort but we want to use a
large rolled up bath towel over our shins right here wedge
right on the front of the ankles. What I'm gonna do just
use my body weight to rock backwards until my butt is
firmly planted over my heels. This will cause the feet and
the ankles to go into plantar flexion. You'll really feel a
very good stretch right here at the top part of the ankle. So,
really focus on that. The more you drive down, the more
intense the stretch. So, only go towards a comfortable
stretch. With this one too, if you're not able to take your
bottom all the way down to the ankles, close the gap by
placing a large pillow in between your legs right here
way that pressure will then go into the ankles but you want to
hold this position for about 15 to 20 seconds from there you're
just going to rock forward and then just simply do this up to
five times with each repetition challenge yourself to drive
your body weight just a little bit more down into your ankles
if you feel like this one becomes too easy you can take
it to the next level by taking the towel out and then doing
the same thing what you're going to notice is the stretch
gets much more intense and when I do this sometimes I a nice
pop or release into the ankle also because it puts so much
mobility in there. If you do get a pop, that is completely
normal. It's just gas is being released from that ankle joint
but again, hold this one for about 15 to 20 seconds. You're
just going to come back up, relax, and then just simply
repeat this one 3 to five times. So, without a doubt, if
we want to get rid of ankle pain for good, we have to
strengthen everything in and around the ankles. Here's a
very easy way to be able to do this. We need two things. The
first being a large roll up towel, just place it right in
front of the door and the next being a tennis ball. If you
don't have a tennis ball, just use another towel or you can
roll up a sock. I'm going to position the towel slightly
away from the door so I can lean into it with my body
weight and stabilize my upper body with my hands into that
door. So, I want to go pretty much where my toes are going to
be able to curl into that towel. So, the balls of my feet
and toes will be on the towel. The rest of the foot will be
off. Let's take that tennis ball and squeeze into it with
our heels and our ankle just like this. From there, I'm
going to lift up into that calf raise but when you do this,
you're going to notice that a lot fires around the Achilles
around the calves and also into the ankles. You want to lift up
as much as you can while you put your body weight into your
toes into the towel. Hold this for about five seconds. From
there, you're just going to relax and from there, you're
just gonna do this about 10 times. With each repetition,
just challenge yourself to go up just a little bit more.
Really focus on firing those muscles into calves and into
the feet. To take this one to the next level, we can do what
is known as an eccentric calf raise. So, instead of just
going up and down with it, let's put some dynamic motion
in there. So, go off to the side when you do this. Go all
the way towards your left. When you do this, you're going to
notice that it hits the muscles around the ankle just a little
bit differently. So, challenge yourself. Go all the way
towards the right at that point. If one movement feels
just tight, achy, or maybe just a little bit more weak, throw
more rep in there. Really focus on the weaknesses and at this
point, I like to also do just circular motions. So, in this
point, I'm going counterclockwise with my heels
just nice and slowly and I'll do this for about 10
repetitions and then I'll go in the opposite directions but
this right here can become very challenging. Again, it's
focusing on strengthening so many muscles in different
motions. So, go through all of them. Take what is most
effective for you and focus on the movements and the spots
that need it the most. If the exercise has helped, please
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