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Lower leg, Ankle & Foot


Navicular stress fractures – Symptoms and treatment
The navicular stress fracture is classed as a high-risk stress fracture because it often takes a long time to heal, or it requires surgery.

Maryke Louw
5 min read


Pop in the calf muscle? Here’s what happens and how to treat it
What happens when your calf muscle pops? We answer this question, as well as questions about treatment and bruising of popped calf muscles.

Maryke Louw
3 min read


Heel/calcaneal stress fractures – Causes, symptoms, and treatment
We'll start off this article by discussing the main causes of stress fractures in the heel bone (calcaneus), because if you know the...

Maryke Louw
6 min read


Stress fracture healing - your questions answered
In this article we'll answer some of the most common questions we get asked about the healing of stress fractures. We also made a video...

Maryke Louw
4 min read


How to treat a sprain – an update on the latest research
This article tells you about the latest, updated research on how to treat a sprain – that is, an acute ankle sprain or any other soft tissue

Steph Davies
5 min read


How to avoid recurring ankle sprains
Recurring ankle sprains – also referred to as chronic lateral ankle instability or chronic ankle instability – can come back again and again

Steph Davies
6 min read


Should I go to A&E with a sprained ankle?
Many people who have sprained their ankle playing sport may wonder whether it is necessary to go to A&E to have the injury diagnosed.

Steph Davies
5 min read


Risk factors for stress fractures in runners
The research is still a bit sparse with regards to specific risk factors that may predispose a runner to developing a stress fracture.

Maryke Louw
5 min read


Running retraining that can help for medial tibial stress syndrome (shin splints)
Medial tibial stress syndrome causes pain along the inside of your shin bone. It was traditionally also called shin splints. I’ve written...

Maryke Louw
2 min read


Anterior compartment syndrome causes and treatment
This mysterious syndrome is also called Anterior Exertional Lower Leg Pain. I know, it's a mouthful, but it’s because we’re not entirely...

Maryke Louw
3 min read


Sinus tarsi syndrome as cause of lateral ankle pain
Sinus tarsi syndrome can cause pain and swelling (not always present) over the outside of the ankle, about in the same area as when...

Maryke Louw
4 min read


Medial ankle pain: Tarsal tunnel syndrome
Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome is one of many conditions that can cause pain or funny sensations on the inner part of your ankle as well as under your foot. In this article, I'll explain what it feels like, how you can test for it, and what treatments may be useful. In this article: What it is What can cause it? What it feels like How do you test for it? Treatment for Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome Here's the video I did about this: What it is Your Tarsal Tunnel is located on the inside

Maryke Louw
4 min read


Advice for tib post tendinopathy that doesn't react to treatment
Tib post tendinopathy can cause a lot of pain on the inside of your ankle and foot and be notoriously slow to react to treatment. In this article, I’ll share some tips that have made the biggest differences for my patients who had "difficult to fix" cases of this condition. I’ve previously done a livestream where I explained the full array of treatments for tib post tendinopathy and you may find that video useful as well. In this article: Be careful of exercises Shoes matter

Maryke Louw
5 min read


How to treat a muscle strain or tear
There is a basic treatment recipe that you can use to treat nearly any muscle strain or tear. Muscle tears can be graded from 0 to 5, but...

Maryke Louw
3 min read


Exercises to correct ankle and foot overpronation
It’s important to understand that pronation of your foot or ankle is a normal part of how we walk. It’s only when it’s excessive or not well controlled that it may cause injuries. In this article I explain what exercises I usually prescribe to help correct overpronation. In this article: What is an ideal foot posture? Practising the components Putting it all together Video demonstration of exercises to correct overpronation What is an ideal foot posture? Our feet all look

Maryke Louw
2 min read


My Top 5 tips for treating peroneal tendonitis/tendinopathy
Peroneal tendonitis (or tendinopathy) is an overuse injury that causes pain over the outside (lateral) of your ankle or foot. You have three peroneal muscles, but peroneus brevis tendonitis is the most common, followed by peroneus longus tendonitis. In this article: Anatomy of the peroneal muscles How do you know that you have a peroneal tendinopathy? Common causes of peroneal tendinopathy in runners Top tips for treating peroneal tendinopathy We've also made a video about pe

Maryke Louw
4 min read


Are you struggling to make a comeback after a calf muscle strain?
At SIP we are often consulted by runners who have pulled their calf muscles once and then find that they reinjure it every few weeks or...

Maryke Louw
5 min read


Shin splints: Causes, fixes, prevention
I'm a firm believer that if you know how an injury is caused you can fix it and stop it from happening again. In this article I explain...

Maryke Louw
6 min read


Foot pain in runners - A quick guide
In this article we discuss the most common causes for foot pain in runners and the top 3 treatments that work best for them.

Maryke Louw
12 min read


You can save time and money by treating your own plantar fasciitis – Here's how
This article will give you a complete list of the most effective treatments for plantar fasciitis that you can apply yourself.

Maryke Louw
7 min read
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