Stiffening of the ankle joint (arthrodesis/ankylosis)

Ankle stiffness is a restriction of the ankle joint that occurs suddenly or as the result of an operation. It results in significantly restricted mobility in the joint. The ankle no longer plays a primary role during walking. The movement of the ankle activates the calf muscle pump and thus the body’s blood and lymph circulation. In the content below, however, we will only be focusing on the influence that ankle mobility has on the patient’s gait and posture – and thus also on the strain placed on the knees, hips and back.

Definition

Ankle joint arthrodesis is a surgical stiffening of the ankle. This operation is usually performed in cases of advanced joint deterioration, chronic ankle pain, joint rheumatism and instability due to muscle paralysis. Ankle ankylosis is an immobilisation of the ankle that occurs suddenly due to an ankle condition. Ankylosis: Sudden joint stiffening due to joint conditions Arthrodesis: Surgical joint stiffening

Joint stiffening – the beginning of the end?

Ankle joint stiffness not only affects the patient’s stability and reduces confidence when walking, but to a greater or lesser degree, it will also inevitably result in limping. The effect of this stiffness is similar to that of wearing a foot brace, as shown below. During the standing phase while walking forwards, the ankle joint is the axis of rotation for the shin if the joints are healthy and mobile. The rotation is limited if the ankle joint is stiff, which results in the knee initially being pushed forwards and the hip being forced into an unnatural tilted position.
The foot braces represent a stiffened ankle joint. Hover over an animation with your mouse to view it in full screen.
This is how someone with 2 stiff ankles would walk. The normal gait is restricted and forced into a bent position, resulting in added pressure to the knees.
The left foot moves naturally, the right ankle is stiff. This causes a limping gait, which leads to a strain on the knees, hips and back.
Close-up of a stiff foot moving. The movement of the knee is uneven like that of the foot. The natural walking movement in a flat shoe with a flat sole is prevented and the back and forefoot are overloaded.

This is how the body compensates

Is compensation the answer?

The other joints have to compensate for the lack of mobility in the ankle joint. In particular, the healthy side has to take on more strain, which causes asymmetry between the left and right sides of the body. In the medium and long-term, this stiffness inevitably causes problems in other joints. Furthermore, muscles no longer have such a wide range of motion and they shorten, agglutinate and cause blockages. In time, this often leads to a bent-over posture in old age because patients are no longer able to fully straighten up.
The gait can be changed just by keeping the right ankle stiff.
Forced gait style, when both ankles are stiff.

Restoring mobility with the kybun mat and the kybun shoe!

The kybun mat and the kybun shoe – like having a prosthesis without the need for an operation!

The solution? The soft, springy sole of the kybun shoe acts as a kind of joint between the foot and the flat surface. This enables the foot to tilt in relation to the lower leg – in almost the same way as a healthy ankle joint. With this solution, the other joints and the body as a whole hardly notice that the ankle joint is stiff. This is because the motion of the external joint (i.e., the kybun shoe) is nearly identical to that of a healthy ankle. The other joints barely need to compensate at all and the asymmetries disappear and the stiffened side can be almost fully extended. When wearing kybun shoes, people with stiffened ankle joints can walk with a near-natural gait – without limping.
The kybun shoe restores complete mobility. The soft, springy material between the stiffened foot and the flat floor (third animation from the left) acts as an external joint – it has nearly exactly the same effect as the natural ankle joint did before it was stiffened. In the second and fourth animations, you can see why and how it works. From these animations, you can clearly see that the natural rollover motion is restored. This approach also prevents limping and excessive strain of other joints and the back.

kybun exercises

For information about the special kybun shoe exercises or the basic kybun mat exercises, please click here: kybun exercises

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