Equinus is a condition in which the ankle joint range of motion is limited in an upward direction.\u00a0 Someone with equinus lacks the flexibility to bring the top of the foot toward the front of the leg.\u00a0 It can occur in one or both feet.<\/p>\n
People with equinus develop compensation for their limited ankle motion and this can lead to other foot, leg and back problems.\u00a0 The most common methods of compensation are flattening of the arch or picking up the heel early when walking, placing increased pressure on the ball of the foot or by “toe walking”.\u00a0 This is the most common cause of the pediatric flat foot deformity.\u00a0 As the child’s weight increases, the tight calf muscle forces the foot to break down.<\/p>\n
There are several possible causes for the limited range of ankle motion.\u00a0 Often it is due to tightness in the Achilles tendon or calf muscle.\u00a0 In most patients, the tightness is congenital and is therefore an inherited trait.\u00a0 Other patients acquire the tightness through situations that keep the foot pointing downward for extended periods of time such as a cast or wearing high-heeled shoes.\u00a0 In addition, diabetes can affect the fibers of the Achilles tendon and cause tightness.<\/p>\n
To diagnose equinus, one of our podiatric physicians will evaluate the ankle’s range of motion.\u00a0 X-rays or a CT scan may be ordered.\u00a0 In some cases, the patient may be referred for neurologic evaluation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Equinus is a condition in which the ankle joint range of motion is limited in an upward direction.\u00a0 Someone with equinus lacks the flexibility to bring the top of the foot toward the front of the leg.\u00a0 It can occur in one or both feet. People with equinus develop compensation for their limited ankle motion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":21,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-107","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.footandankle.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.footandankle.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.footandankle.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.footandankle.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.footandankle.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=107"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.footandankle.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":289,"href":"https:\/\/www.footandankle.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/107\/revisions\/289"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.footandankle.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.footandankle.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}