# Ankle Pain?



## skygraff (Jun 2, 2017)

Honestly, I don't know if this was caused by driving my Model 3 but I have been dealing with what was diagnosed as a sprained ankle for a few months. I've owned my car for some time but don't do as much driving as most of you however, when I do drive on the Chicago expressways, I must keep my right foot hovering over the accelerator (if using autopilot or TACC) thanks to the danger of phantom braking.

Whatever the cause, the pain is definitely aggravated by driving with that posture. I try to rest my foot on the pedal and the center console in such a way as to relieve some tension but it's actually more comfortable to simply kick everything off and one-pedal drive for a while; not to mention TACC jams the brakes, occasionally, in S&G traffic so taking over is probably nicer to the tailgaters behind me.

Upshot of this post: has anyone else suffered ankle pain due to the phantom braking hover?

I'll reiterate, the option for dumb cruise control would be nice for general highway driving (I take my chances and drop the foot if I don't have passengers and am not surrounded by too many vehicles) but, really, something needs to be done about phantom braking already for city expressways. I can't believe the California traffic is any better and this really negates the stress-relieving aspect of having AP/TACC for traffic. If I thought I could prove cause and had a litigious bone in my body, I'd consider suing Tesla just to motivate them.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

@SoFlaModel3 , were you having a similar issue for a while?

edit:
Found it! This is the thread I was thinking about:

Autopilot causes shin splints...

edit #2:
And @skygraff had responded to that thread too at the time.


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

garsh said:


> @SoFlaModel3 , were you having a similar issue for a while?
> 
> edit:
> Found it! This is the thread I was thinking about:
> ...


Good memory Brad! Yes, my right shin would get pain from hovering my foot over the pedal. Ultimately I changed the way I do it and don't hover my foot anymore. It rests to the side and is ready at an instant to hit the pedal.


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## Major Victory (Oct 25, 2018)

Get diagnosed by a proper musculoskeletal specialist physician. Could it be sciatica, gout, peroneal neuropathy, etc.... Get a proper diagnosis.


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## TrevP (Oct 20, 2015)

I get hip pain on my right side. I think it's related to the seating position of not having my foot on the accelerator much


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## skygraff (Jun 2, 2017)

I thought I'd seen that mentioned before but the pain just blocked my memory . Thanks for the research.

Back then, I clearly hadn't developed pain but, whether it caused or simply contributed, the "guard" position really takes a toll since a day after doing a rush hour drive, I'm still feeling it. Regardless, whether I do the AP/TACC hover or drive single-pedal (which is actually more relaxing despite the intent of AP/TACC), there's definitely less immediate/acute concerns than my old ICE (such as cramping) so guess that improves safety. Still, just saying, wish it was ready for prime time.

SoFla, where are you resting your foot? On the floor to the outside or against the center console above and to the inside of the pedal? I've tried the floor and just don't feel it's a fast enough reaction to avoid phantom-braking induced rear-end collision (a PIRC of Tesla ownership?) when in traffic and can't seem to remove tension with the up and in position.

As to Major Victory's comment, it was diagnosed as sprain by a foot/ankle specializing Ortho and I've been doing prescribed self-directed PT but it gets aggravated when I drive.

Sorry to hear about the hip pain, Trevor. I slipped on some ice, in January, while opening the garage so have a lingering hip pain but I don't think it's aggravated by the car nor does it translate. Are you saying that yours is caused by the "hover" when you say "not having [your] foot on the accelerator much" or is your foot relaxing so the leg is slightly splayed and, thus, not supporting that hip like usual?


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## Koonus (Nov 30, 2020)

To be honest, I never had such a problem. I have not even come across people who would suffer from something bad.


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## Needsdecaf (Dec 27, 2018)

Koonus said:


> To be honest, I never had such a problem. I have not even come across people who would suffer from something bad.


Uh, everyone's built a little different, right??


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## skygraff (Jun 2, 2017)

Well, I was thinking about posting on this thread but didn't want to raise the dead.

Whether my ankle pain was caused or simply aggravated by the ol' phantom brake hover, I've since discovered a nifty little work around: resting my foot on the accelerator alleviates some, if not all, of the tension and the screen will notify me that cruise control won't be able to brake if I'm putting too much weight on the pedal.

That said, it isn't a panacea so I'm either still holding a little tension in the ankle (trying different ways to support some of my foot on the center console) or the pain has nothing to do with driving. I'm also a little concerned with the reports of AP not stopping in case of an unresponsive driver pressing on the accelerator since, thanks to our common response to phantom braking being this hover over (or resting on) behavior, we may be undermining that intended safety feature. Suffice to say, I sure hope the new FSD software tack finally puts an end to PBS (phantom braking syndrome - not public broadcasting).


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