Ankle Rocker Revisited....

How many times have we talked about ankle rocker and its importance? So how are YOU measuring ankle rocker? Are you looking at it on the table? On the ground? Weight bearing? Knee flexed or extended (or both?). The knee is extended at initial contact, flexes through midstance, extends at terminal stance and pre swing and flexes again during swing phase until extending at the end of terminal swing for initial contact again.

What you see on the table may not (and many times doesn't)  translate to real life. Someone with limited ankle dorsiflexion non weight bearing may have normal amounts during gait and vice versa. With gravity in place and a functioning (or malfunctioning) vestibular system, things can change rapidly. Remember that the vestibular system drives the extensors and if inhibited, you will often have flexor dominance. Talk about a tight gastroc/soleus group!

"These findings indicate that nonweightbearing and weightbearing measurements of ankle DF PROM with knee extension should not be used interchangeably and that weightbearing ankle DF PROM with the knee extended is more appropriate for estimating ankle DF during gait."

Kang MH, Oh JS. Relationship Between Weightbearing Ankle Dorsiflexion Passive Range of Motion and Ankle Kinematics During Gait. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc. 2017 Jan;107(1):39-45. doi: 10.7547/14-112.

"There is no relationship between a static diagnosis of ankle dorsiflexion at 0° with dorsiflexion during gait. On the other hand, those subjects with less than -5° of dorsiflexion during static examination did exhibit reduced ankle range of motion during gait."

Gatt A, De Giorgio S, Chockalingam N, Formosa C. A pilot investigation into the relationship between static diagnosis of ankle equinus and dynamic ankle and foot dorsiflexion during stance phase of gait: Time to revisit theory? Foot (Edinb). 2017 Mar;30:47-52. doi: 10.1016/j.foot.2017.01.002. Epub 2017 Feb 6.