foot & ankle pain treatment in winnipeg
If you’ve been told to “wear supportive shoes” or “roll it out on a golf ball,” but your first few steps in the morning are still agonizing, you aren’t alone. Most people come to us after trying generic inserts, thick orthotics, and rest, only to find the pain returns the moment they return to activity.
The foot is an engineering marvel of 26 bones and 33 joints. When it hurts, it’s rarely just “inflammation”—it is a signal that your body’s foundation has lost its ability to absorb shock. At Drive Wellness Center, we look past the localized pain to find the root cause others miss—usually a locked ankle joint that forces the arch to collapse, or a stiff hip that changes how your foot strikes the ground. We care about keeping you moving through Winnipeg’s seasons, which is why we don’t just treat the symptom; we rebuild the foundation you stand on.
common conditions we treat:
That sharp, stabbing pain in your heel—especially in the morning—isn’t just bad luck. It is usually a tension problem caused by tight calves and a stiff ankle pulling on the fascia like a bowstring. We release the tension upstream and mobilize the ankle to stop the constant pulling at the attachment site.
If you feel like you have “weak ankles” that roll easily on uneven pavement, it’s not just about loose ligaments. It’s a loss of proprioception (your brain’s ability to sense foot position). We retrain your nervous system to react faster than gravity, turning a “wobbly” ankle into a stable anchor.
Pain in the back of the heel or calf is a classic “demand vs. supply” issue. When the calf is too weak or tight to handle the load of walking or running, the tendon takes the beating. We use progressive loading protocols to stiffen and strengthen the tendon, making it resilient enough to handle high-impact forces again.
Pain in the ball of the foot is often a sign that your foot isn’t splaying or absorbing weight correctly. Rather than just padding the area, we work on restoring the natural dexterity of your toes and the mobility of the mid-foot, allowing you to push off effectively without overloading a single spot.
How We Resolve Your foot & ankle Pain in 3 Steps At Drive Wellness Center
- The Ground-Up Audit (Biomechanical Mapping) We analyze your gait (walking pattern) and single-leg stability to see exactly how your foot interacts with the ground. We identify if a stiff big toe is forcing your knee to dive inward, or if a locked ankle is causing your arch to collapse.
- Joint Mobilization & Soft Tissue Release The foot needs to be mobile to absorb shock but rigid to push off. We use manual therapy to mobilize the 26 bones of the foot and “floss” the nerves and tendons, restoring the natural slide-and-glide mechanics that stiff boots and shoes often restrict.
- The Intrinsic Strength Protocol Orthotics can be a useful tool, but we don’t want you to rely on them forever. We transition you into exercises that “wake up” the small, intrinsic muscles of the foot—building a natural, internal arch support that keeps you pain-free whether you are barefoot or in winter boots.
Frequently asked questions
This is the hallmark of Plantar Fasciitis. While you sleep, your foot is in a relaxed, shortened position. When you take that first step, you are suddenly stretching cold, tight tissue. It’s a sign that the calf and ankle need significant mobility work to reduce that overnight tension.
Not always. Orthotics are like glasses—they help while you wear them, but they don’t fix the underlying issue. Our goal is to strengthen your foot so it becomes its own support system. We often use orthotics as a temporary bridge while we build your natural capacity.
Old sprains often leave behind scar tissue and limited mobility (dorsiflexion). If the joint wasn’t mobilized properly after the injury, it stays stiff, causing “clicking” and chronic ache. We can often unlock this stiffness even years after the original injury.
Yes. Walking on ice forces you to shuffle and tense your toes to grip the ground, which alters your gait. Heavy winter boots also restrict ankle motion (like a cast), which can decondition your foot muscles over the winter months, leading to spring-time injuries.