Self-ankle mobilization to increase dorsiflexion
If you’re having anterolateral ankle pressure or pain with dorsiflexion, give this mobilization a try. We’ve used this a lot in the last week at IFAST and have seen some outstanding results.
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Great stuff Bill! Going to give this a go this afternoon.
Let me know how it goes.
Bill
Cool, thanks, Bill. I’m on it. I have a 30-year-old ankle injury that hasn’t shown much mobility improvement for all my efforts. I’m confident one of your tricks will eventually work!
This is a BRILLIANT solution to a challenge I’ve been looking to overcome for a long time!
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Bill,
In some of our ankle mobilizations we use a seat belt to provide the resistant attached to a squat rack/ fixing, that tends to work as well!
Fantastic recommendation. I’ve been having a problem on my right foot for a couple of months now that all the stretching and mobility in the world haven’t been able to correct. It feels like I have limited dorsiflexion compared to my left foot, and feel my 2nd metatarsal phalangeal joint hit the ground when walking barefoot (almost as if the fatty pad were reduced).
I tried your exercise above for a few reps and both of these things immediately went away! I was thrilled to say the least.
Having said that, after a few minutes, the problem was back again. In order to correct this, do I just need to work my calf muscles more along with this stretch? What other, if any, recommendations would you have for this.
Thanks!
Hey Bill,
Just wanted to follow up to let you know that I tried this on a client with whom I was having issues with a “jamming” feeling during ankle mobility into dorsiflexion. The pain went away and dorsiflexion was much improved!
Thanks again!
Bill,
Great suggestion! In needing improved ankle mobility (like most) , my self-mobilization ankle drills have never been significantly successfull due to an anterior capsular restriction in the right ankle. Thanks for the tip on creating the posterior glide; even though I’ve known what the problem was, I never knew how to remedy it when working by myself.
Thanks again.
Hi Bill (or anyone),
I have been trying this and your other ankle dorsiflexion mobilization. I am trying to clean up 25 plus years of hip and back problems that “may” be caused by my anke foot joint. I am a runner but my left foot points out to the side and rotates my foot down over the arch and my knee inward. Hence the hip and back problems. I thought it was a hip joint problem, now I am looking at the ankle. In your experience, can the foot be put back into position through mobilization and other work? Does the Assess and Correct DVD get more into the ankle joint? Here is my take on what is happening.
http://recoveryourstride.blogspot.com/2009/11/taking-closer-look-at-ankle-joint.html
Thanks,
Jim Hansen
Jim,
It’s really going to depend on what’s going on and taking a look at potential influences. While Assess and Correct certainly includes ankle mobiliizations, it is not specific to just the ankle/foot. If you’re really dealing with such long-term issues, it may be best to seek out a great manual therapist to take a look at things.