ANTERIOR TIBIAL TENDON INJURY AND TENDONITIS

The anterior tibial tendon has an important function ( actually all tendons have an important function ) but this one helps you walk normally. It helps pull the foot upward (dorsiflexion) when you are walking and it also helps hold up your arch of the foot during certain points of walking as well.

When can it get hurt : unusual repetitive motions of the ankle or sudden injuries such as those sustained during sporting activity. Or sometimes someone can wake up with pain in the area of the tendon with no obvious history of an injury. If you have flat feet this can contribute to the possibility of injury, how? : one of the tendons’ jobs its to help hold up the arch, if the arch is collapsing like in a flat foot the tendon has to work harder and then is more prone to injury.

The injury : usually it is a tendonitis- an irritation of the tendon, it can also be something called an enthesiopathy - this is an irritation of the area where a tendon attaches to the bone. A rupture of this tendon is also possible but a bit more rare of an injury.

Treatment : many time rest, ice, elevation, anti-inflammatory medications like Alleve or Advil will do the job to alleviate the symptoms. but if they persist a foot/ankle specialist should be seen. Or maybe if you develop pain and are concerned just see someone and don’t treat yourself, this way you might avoid a bigger problem. In some cases a cast or a boot is needed and in situations where pain simply does not go away we do have minimal incision surgical procedures available to treat injury to this tendon.

Other things we do with this tendon : in cases of clubfoot in both kids and adults we move this tendon around to rebalance the foot into a more proper position. We also use it in dropfoot as a tendon transfer to help other tendons move the foot properly during walking.