Skip to main content

Steph Curry’s Ankles

Share this video

Ever wonder why you don’t hear about ankle arthritis or ankle replacements?  The ankle doesn’t get arthritis, except if injured.  Why is this, when our whole body rests on these relatively small joints?  And what does that mean for Steph Curry?

Steph Curry’s Ankles The Stone Clinic



So if the basketball players of the world never injure their ankles, they never end up with artificial ankle joints.  But Steph Curry—and anyone who keep twisting the joint—are nonetheless asking for trouble.  Here is why. 

When the ligaments surrounding the joint become stretched or torn, the bones move in and out of the joint.  That abnormal motion means the force is not distributed evenly. The motion leads to high shear forces— the kind that scrape off the surface layers—and high local compression forces.  These small changes lead to pressure points. The pressure points, in turn, kill the underlying cells. The cells stop making the matrix that absorbs the fluid in the joint to keep it spongy. Then the cartilage stiffens, there’s a breakdown, and the bone is exposed. 

This cycle is predictable, but it’s also preventable.


As for Steph Curry, the trick is to tape and brace his ankle so effectively that his ankle is stable, and resists the forces of running and jumping.  Then—when the season ends—repair the damage before the terminal cartilage lesions occur.
