I’ve been seeing a physiotherapist lately for an ankle issue that has hindered my ability to run. I attributed the injury to pushing my runs much longer distances than normal without the proper training. This wasn’t the case.

The issue was my back.

At my initial appointment, after I explained the problem, the physio told me to stand on my left foot. No issue here — I have good balance. Then he told me to switch, and this time there was a bit of a wobble.

He asked if I spend a lot of time sitting at the computer. Yes, I said.

“You have a pinched nerve in your lower back.”

At this point I take a second to wrap my head around this. Is this guy nuts? I’m here for my ankle, why is he talking about my back?

I tell him that I have no pain in my back, to which he explains that not all pinched nerves come with pain. He tells me that a knot in a lower back muscle is pinching a nerve and weakening the signal to one of my glutes. This muscle has weakened as a result, causing muscles further down my leg to act differently in compensation. This in turn causes my foot to hit the ground at a slightly different angle when I run — which ever so slightly pulls on a small tendon in my ankle — ultimately leading to the pain I’ve been battling.

After a bit of intramuscular stimulation in my back, the pain in my ankle was gone. And this all happened within ten minutes.

Six weeks of stretching, massage and rest brought me no relief, because I focused on the injury rather than the unknown trigger in a far-off but connected part of my body.

The human body is utterly fascinating.