The client a very active 51 year old male was complaining of a ropey like tight muscle on the outside of his left shin.
The ‘ropeyness’ started following a change in running style after Euflexxa injections to his knees. The Euflexxa allowed him greater range of motion in his knees thus requiring a greater range of motion in his ankles.
Upon examination we found osteo arthritis from old injuries in the ankles limiting the range of motion in the ankles and inflammation + tightening of the tibialis anterior giving it a ropey like texture.
While providing initial muscular relief to the tibialis anterior through massage we also started to manipulate the ankle joint to increase the range of motion.
The patient was also provided a range of exercises to be completed daily concentrating on range of motion in the ankle and strengthening the tibialis anterior muscle.
After 4 visits over 6 weeks and the patient doing home exercises along with clinical massage and manipulation, the Patient continued to run, limiting his runs to the point where the tibialis anterior would begin to tire and become painful. Over the 6 week period his running distance improved from 4-5km to 14km pain free.
