How to Fix Your Ankle Pain and Calf Tightness in Asheville, NC

At Outshine Physical Therapy and Fitness, we help active adults and athletes feel, move, and perform better in Asheville, NC. If you're experiencing ankle pain or calf tightness, you're not alone. Let's explore how to identify and address these issues.​

Simple Test: The Knee-to-Wall Test

Poor ankle mobility can lead to movement issues in the gym like difficulty squatting. It can also lead to compensations that can create foot, ankle, or even back pain. Use this simple test to see if you have enough ankle mobility:

1. Kneel down on one leg and place the other foot in front of you with toes up against a wall in front of you.

2. Bend your front knee toward the wall, keeping your heel on the ground.

3. If your knee touches the wall without your heel lifting, then scoot the foot back about an inch and repeat this.

4. Move your foot away from the wall to the point where your knee can still touch the wall without your heel popping up (but you couldn’t go any further).

5. A good minimum distance is if you can place your fist between your toes and the wall. An ideal distance if you can place your fist with your thumb up between your toes and the wall (~4-5 inches).

Knee to Wall test - Washington Athletic Club

Why Tight Ankles and Calf Tightness Can Cause Pain

Tight calf muscles and tightness in the ankle joint can limit ankle movement which can lead to:​

• Foot and ankle pain like plantar fascia pain and achilles issues

• Increased risk of injuries

• Compensations in how you move (like during squats or stairs)

2 Exercises to Improve Ankle Mobility

1. Weighted Ankle Stretch: Watch how to do this here.

   • Place one foot up on a bench or box. Place a 20-40 pound weight at the end of that knee.

   • Shift your weight forward to get your knee past your toes as far as possible. Keep your foot flat and heel down.

   • Go until you feel a calf or low heel stretch.

   • Hold for ~30 seconds, repeat 2-3 times on each side.

     
     

2. Heel Raises off a stair: Many times we need to strengthen a muscle through a full range of motion to improve its length. Watch how to do this here.

   • Stand on the balls of the feet with heels off of a stair.

   • Push up raising your heels, then lower back down slowly all the way down until you feel a calf stretch on both sides.

   • Perform 2 sets of 10 reps pausing at the bottom of each rep for a stretch.

How Physical Therapy Can Help

At Outshine Physical Therapy and Fitness, we offer:​

• Personalized Assessments: No cookie-cutter treatments. We screen the whole body to help you understand the root cause.

• Tailored Exercise Programs: Designed to improve how you move and build confidence. We help you improve your mobility and strength.

• Manual Therapy: Hands-on techniques to alleviate tightness and pain. We are certified in dry needling which we have great success with to help improve tightness and pain. At Outshine Physical Therapy and Fitness in Asheville, we also use other techniques like cupping, soft tissue mobilization, joint mobilizations, scraping (aka gua sha or instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization) and more.

  
  

Our goal is to help you return to your favorite activities pain-free.​ But we don't stop there. We want to help you solve the problems long-term, improve how you move, and make life-long improvements in your physical health and wellness.

Ready to Move Better?

If you're in Asheville, NC, and struggling with ankle pain or calf tightness, contact Outshine Physical Therapy and Fitness today. Let's work together to help you feel, move, and perform better!​

Best,

Dr. Sieara Hinshaw

Book your FREE consult call here!