How to Fix Your Pinchy Ankle

Technical terms for a minute: 

osteokinematic motion at the ankle = flexion / extension

arthrokinematic motion at the ankle = glide/slide In other words, all joints go through osteo and arthrokinematic motions.

With dorsiflexion, there is also a glide/slide, or the distal end of the tibia would smash into the top of the talus Most joint mobilizations take these glides/slides move with these motions, but not always 😉

Here is 1 of 2 ways to improve your ankle dorsiflexion and stop the ankle pinch. I've seen this first mobilization done differently (with the band pulling from behind).

This really doesn't make any sense to me because the talus is fixed while the tibia and fibula need to move forward🤔.

Therefor the band pulls the tib-fib joint forward on the fixed talus. 

Here’s the next fix to help improve your ankle dorsiflexion. During dorsiflexion, the distal fibula (the outside of your ankle) needs to move out of the way because the anterior talus is larger than the posterior Is this what you need?

Hard to say, but you can do a quick test. Put your bare-foot up to a wall.

Keeping your heel on the ground, bring your knee to the wall. If you can’t reach the wall - 🙈. You should be able to though. Continue to nudge your foot back until you can no longer get your knee to the wall.

Try this mobilization, and assess again.