[pct-l] ROLLED & SPRAINED ANKLES - FOOT PLACEMENT

Edward Anderson mendoridered at yahoo.com
Mon Sep 24 08:09:30 CDT 2012


Hi Yoshi,

Relating to ankle injury, the following is based on my own experience, and is therefore entirely subjective. It is my theory, probably better described as a hypotheses, that a person's natural foot placement might well, to some extent, influence the likelihood of that person sometimes rolling an ankle while walking on uneven surfaces - while also being careless. I am prone to rolling my ankles, occasionally resulting in a fall and a sprained ankle. This has happened only a few times during my lifetime ( I will be 77 next month, and have done a lot of hiking/backpacking/climbing). In my memory it has most often happened when I was wearing low-cut shoes. This is why "trail runners" became my shoe of choice if when taking a long hike that would include uneven surfaces, like, for example, the JMT. When I did the JMT (in 1957) I wore leather boots. I don't recall having an ankle issue on that hike. Today, when either hiking or riding, I wear
 Keens, which extend about 6" above my ankle bones and are well padded in that area. That design gives my ankles some support and helps to limit how far they might roll - or has prevented them from rolling at all. That has worked for me. (I did take a big fall in Washington in 2009. I was hiking, leading my horse, and was distracted, being careless, gawking at the splendor of Mt. Rainier, when I tripped and fell straight forward flat on my face - actually bending my nose. I set it back with duct tape for the next several hours. That worked. Never be without duct tape in an emergency!  And the unexpected happens.)

NOW HERE IS MY THEORY:  My own natural foot placement is straight forward - heel to toe. I have noticed that most people walk naturally with their toes pointed either slightly or very noticeably outward. I think that you are less likely to roll your ankles if you naturally walk with your toes pointing outward. I think that your foot placement will be more stable because your track is effectively somewhat wider as you move forward - I think you are less likely to roll your ankle. When hiking on a trail tread that is sloped lower on the downhill side (which is normal on the PCT, to help deal with water runoff), I sometimes, consciously, deliberately point my toe outward on the lower (downhill) foot. I feel that this strategy improves lateral stability - I'm less likely to fall.

Yoshi, do you know of any studies that might have been done related to this?  Are people, like myself, who naturally walk with straight heel-to-toe foot placement, more likely to roll and sprain ankles while walking on uneven surfaces? I'm just curious.

MendoRider-Hiker


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