Identifying & Treating Foot & Ankle Muscle Imbalances

You have more than 600 individual muscles in your body that help to provide strength, stability and the completion of necessary bodily functions. All of these muscles are designed to work together, but if an injury or muscle problem develops, it can lead to imbalances between muscle groups. Left untreated, this can lead to problems like accelerated joint deterioration or an increased risk of muscle strains or tears. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at why these imbalances develop and how they are identified and treated.

Why Do Muscle Imbalances Develop?

Muscles imbalances can develop for a few different reasons, and sometimes we aren’t even aware that what we’re doing is leading to an imbalance. Here’s a look at some of the ways these muscle imbalances can develop:

• Unbalanced Strength Conditioning – Many muscle groups work properly when they work in opposition of one another, like your biceps and triceps. They’ll function best when they are roughly the same size, so if your workout routine or daily tasks have you overdeveloping your biceps while ignoring your triceps, a muscle imbalance can occur.
• Poor Stretching – You can develop tight muscles due to inadequate stretching routines. If you fail to stretch before activity or you stretch incorrectly, some muscle groups may be loose and active during activity while others remain tight and stiff, contributing to muscle imbalances.
• Poor posture – Having poor posture means certain areas and muscles have to handle excess stress throughout the day. This means some muscle groups are working overtime to handle pressure, whereas others remain protected. This can lead to overdeveloped muscle groups or muscles that are weakened from being overstressed.
• Injuries – If you suffer an injury during athletics, you may need to rest certain muscles while the injury heals, and the muscle groups that are trying to accomodate for the injured areas can overdevelop. For example, if you tear your hamstring, your hamstring in the other leg or your quadriceps muscles in the same leg can become overdeveloped as they will take on more stress, whereas the injured hamstring may atrophy a bit due to limited use.

Correcting Muscle Imbalances

The good news is that these muscle imbalances can often be corrected with some simple conservative treatment options. It won’t happen overnight, but by sticking to some of the following techniques for a couple weeks or longer, you’ll be able to get key muscle groups back into a healthy balance. Some of those treatments include:

• Muscle Strengthening – Targeting weak muscles with strength training exercises will help build up underdeveloped muscles.
• Stretching Improvements – Helping you develop a comprehensive stretching routine can help you activate muscle groups so that they can function properly.
• Repetitive Exercises – Some muscle groups that are underdeveloped or dormant need to undergo repetitive muscle training in order to get back in the rhythm of activating in sync or in opposition with other muscles.
• Heat/Ice/Ultrasound – These treatments can help to calm inflammation that could be causing an imbalance or slowing the healing process after a muscle injury.

If these conservative methods do not work to resolve the underlying issues, surgery may be the next best step. Contact Dr. Kim today if you are experiencing foot and ankle issues. Dr. Kim can perform a full examination and tell you if you are a good candidate for various surgical procedures.