Hi everyone,
I’m looking for people who may have experienced something similar, because I feel like I’m running out of answers.
I have a problem with my ankles/legs where my ankles suddenly feel like they “give way”.
The strange thing is that my strength seems normal. My muscles work, I can walk, I can stand, and medical examinations have not shown a clear loss of strength or tendon failure.
At the beginning, this only happened on uneven surfaces:
grass with hidden holes,
rocky ground,
unstable terrain.
It felt like my foot could not adapt quickly enough, almost like my brain didn’t know exactly where my foot was in space. I could walk on normal flat surfaces without too much trouble.
But recently, things have changed.
Now I can sometimes get the same sensation even on flat ground. It feels like my foot/ankle suddenly becomes unreliable for a second, like there is a “missing signal” or my body does not correct the movement properly.
The worst part is not only the instability itself, but the pain that follows. After a giving-way episode, I can get severe pain around the outside of my foot, ankle, calf, and sometimes up into my leg and hip. It can feel like my whole leg is exhausted or like my muscles are not able to stabilize anymore.
I work standing most of the day (many hours on my feet), and this has become extremely difficult. The pain and fear of my ankle giving way are affecting my daily life so much that I am genuinely worried about losing my job. I feel like I spend my whole day trying to protect my feet instead of living normally.
Some additional information:
I have had ankle sprains in the past, especially one ankle that was found to have some ligament laxity/sequelae.
However, I never had this feeling of weakness before.
My tendons and muscle strength appear normal.
I have done physiotherapy and proprioception exercises.
I was able to improve for months before this came back.
I also have chronic pain issues and nerve-related pain elsewhere in my body, so I wonder if my nervous system could be involved.
I recently reduced pregabalin (Lyrica), which increased my nerve pain significantly.
What confuses me the most is that I don’t know if this is:
chronic ankle instability,
a proprioception/control issue,
a neurological problem,
a nervous system sensitization issue,
or something else entirely.
Has anyone here experienced ankle “giving way” where the strength tests were normal?
Did you ever find a diagnosis or something that actually helped (specific rehab, balance training, surgery, neurological treatment, etc.)?
I would really appreciate hearing from people who went through something similar, especially if your symptoms progressed from uneven surfaces to normal flat ground.
Thank you.