Lady With A Chronic Ankle Injury

My name is Isabelle, I broke my ankle in February 2006 when I missed the last step on the stairs and as a result in the words of the Hospital Consultant “it was a nasty break” I required an operation involving the insertion of a plate and screws through both sides of my leg and my ankle as well as screws through the base of my foot.

 From that, I have always had pain and swelling in my ankle even though I had several physiotherapy sessions. I have tried all types of orthopaedic insoles on the market with little or no improvement. I also had a limp which I was conscious of.

Then in February of this year, I saw an article in our local “In Touch” magazine. I read about the Northern Ireland Foot & Ankle Clinic in Glengormley who had developed a special insole which helps people with ankle injuries. I made an appointment to see Mr Hallowell who assessed my ankle and gave me a sample rocker insole to try out. I immediately felt I was walking normally for the first time in 8 years.

Mr Hallowell then took a cast of my foot to have a rocker made to suit me. I got the rocker insole about a week later and I have been using it since March this year. It has made an amazing difference to my walking and has greatly reduced my pain. On a recent holiday, I was able to walk further than at any time in the last 8 years and was completely pain-free.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who has foot or ankle problems you will not be disappointed.

Many Thanks

Issy, Carnmoney

It was clear from watching Isabelle walk that her ankle movement was very limited and that the limitation was causing her severe pain. These chronic ankle injuries are relatively common and they follow a familiar progressive pattern from an initial injury to chronic foot and ankle pain. Some of the patients I see have had surgery and some are trying to avoid having an operation. The limited movement of the ankle puts stress on all the surrounding joints so that often the patient attends the clinic with foot or knee pain rather than ankle pain. The rocker is designed to reduce this stress by re-establishing/mimicking the normal ankle movement. Happily, since we started making it the feedback has been very positive. We are currently trying to find what other conditions it may be useful for. My hope is that we can get the device accepted into the mainstream of orthopaedic devices so that it can be offered to patients after surgery. Currently, many patients are given rocker bottom shoes which can be bulky and are not always user-friendly.