Ankle Bones: Names, Anatomy and How They Move

The ankle bones are three: the tibia, the fibula and the talus. Where they meet is the ankle joint, the hinge that lets your foot point down and lift up. When people say "my ankle bone", though, they usually mean one of the two round bumps on either side of the ankle. Those bumps are simply the lower ends of the two leg bones. I teach the Feldenkrais Method®, so I care about one more thing. How do these bones feel from the inside, and how do they share the work of standing with the rest of you?

The three ankle bones that build the joint

The tibia is your shinbone. You can feel its flat front edge running down the front of your lower leg. It carries most of your weight from the knee to the foot.

The fibula runs beside it on the outer side. It is long and thin, about as wide as a finger in places. It carries only a small share of your weight. Its main jobs are to anchor muscles and to form the outer wall of the ankle.

The talus is the third bone, and the least known. It sits between the lower ends of the tibia and fibula, like a block held in a pair of tongs. Its top is rounded and smooth, and slightly wider at the front than at the back. Unusually, no muscle attaches to it. Its shape, its smooth cartilage and the ligaments around it keep it in place. Our page on ankle ligaments shows how those bands hold the three bones together.

These same three bones are where many adult breaks happen. OrthoInfo, from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, ranks ankle fractures fourth among the fractures adults most often have (AAOS OrthoInfo, 2026).

Ankle bone names for the two bumps you can feel

Each bump has its own name. The inner one is the medial malleolus, the end of the tibia. "Medial" means toward the middle of the body. The outer one is the lateral malleolus, the end of the fibula. "Lateral" means toward the side. Malleolus comes from a Latin word for a small hammer, which is roughly the shape.

Try touching both at once with thumb and finger. You will likely find that the outer bump sits lower than the inner one, and a little further back. That small difference shapes how the ankle moves. The outer bump reaches further down, so it blocks the foot sooner when the sole tips outward. Tipping inward meets less bone.

Two joints, two kinds of movement

What we call the ankle is really two joints stacked on top of each other.

The upper one is the talocrural joint. Its name joins "talus" with "crural", which means of the leg. It is a hinge between the leg bones and the talus. It lets you point your foot down, as when you press a pedal. It also lets you lift your toes toward your shin. Walking uses it constantly, as the shin rolls forward over the planted foot.

The lower one is the subtalar joint, meaning below the talus. Here the talus sits on the calcaneus, the heel bone. This joint tilts the sole so it faces a little inward or a little outward. That tilt lets the foot settle on a slope, a cobble or a tree root. Our explainer on inversion vs eversion describes those two directions of tilt in more detail.

The talus and its neighbours in the foot

The talus is one of seven tarsal bones, the cluster of bones at the back and middle of the foot. The heel bone is the largest of them. In front of the talus sits the navicular, on the inner side. The cuboid sits on the outer side. Three small wedge shaped cuneiforms lie ahead of the navicular. Long bones then fan out toward the toes. You do not need to remember them all. It helps to know only that the ankle hands your weight on to a whole family of small bones, each able to move a little.

How the ankle bones share work with the knee, hip and pelvis

A textbook shows the ankle on its own. Your body never uses it that way. When the sole rolls toward its inner edge, the shin turns slightly inward with it, and the knee and thigh follow. When the sole rolls toward its outer edge, the shin turns slightly outward. So a change at the heel travels up through the knee and hip into the pelvis. A turn of the pelvis also travels down to the foot.

When the ankle moves freely, the knee and hip have less to make up. When it moves less, after an old sprain or months in stiff shoes, other places tend to take over. The knee may twist a little more. The hip may swing a little wider. Often nobody notices the trade. Our guide to stiff ankles looks at that pattern, and the Feldypedia article on gait changes and walking difficulty follows it into walking as a whole.

In an Awareness Through Movement® lesson, we use slow, small movements to make that chain easier to feel. Nothing is pushed. You compare one side with the other and notice what changes.

Try this: which bump leads?

Sit near the front of a chair with both feet flat on the floor. Rest your hands on your thighs. Slowly roll your right foot onto its outer edge, only as far as feels easy, then let it return. Do it a few times. Notice which ankle bump moves toward the floor and which one lifts. Notice whether your knee drifts outward too.

Rest for a moment. Then roll the same foot toward its inner edge. Which bump leads now? Does your knee drift inward? Can you feel anything in your hip or in the sitting bone on that side?

Rest again, then stand up and walk a few steps. Notice whether the right foot meets the floor any differently from the left. If you enjoy this kind of noticing, our somatic exercises for beginners offer a fuller first practice. The Feldy program has short daily audio lessons in the same spirit, with a free 7 day trial.

Alongside clinical care and other methods

Knowing your ankle bones is not the same as having them examined. If an orthopaedic doctor or physiotherapist is looking after your ankle, awareness work sits alongside their care and never replaces it. Imaging, casts, strength plans and a graded return to sport are their territory.

Other methods reach the ankle by their own routes. Yoga asks it to balance in held standing poses. Tai chi asks for slow, continuous shifts of weight from foot to foot. Pilates works the foot and ankle through precise, repeated control, often on a machine. Calf and shin strength work builds the muscles that steady the joint. Feldenkrais works through small, slow movement and attention, so you can sense how the ankle joins the rest of you. Our body awareness page explains that approach.

When to get your ankle bones checked

Most ankle aches settle with time. A few signs need a professional the same day. These include being unable to take a few steps after a fall or twist, and sharp soreness when you press the tip or back edge of either bump. An ankle or foot that looks out of shape belongs here too, and so does numbness or tingling in the foot.

Common Questions about ankle bones (FAQ)

What are the names of the ankle bones?

Three bones meet at the ankle joint. The tibia is the shinbone, the larger of the two lower leg bones. The fibula is the thin bone on the outer side of the leg. The talus sits between their lower ends and rests on the heel bone, called the calcaneus. Some people also count the heel bone, because it forms the joint just below.

Which bump is the inner ankle bone and which is the outer one?

The bump on the inside of your ankle is the end of the tibia, and anatomists call it the medial malleolus. The bump on the outside is the end of the fibula, called the lateral malleolus. Run a finger over both and you will find the outer one sits lower and a little further back.

Is the talus bone the same as the heel bone?

No. The talus is the bone at the top of the foot that fits up into the ankle socket. The heel bone, or calcaneus, sits below and behind it and is the bone you land on with each step. They meet at the subtalar joint, which lets the sole tilt inward and outward.

How often should I practise noticing my ankles?

A minute or two on most days is plenty. You can roll each foot slowly onto its edges while you sit at the table, or feel your weight move around your soles while you wait for the kettle. Short, frequent moments of attention tend to stay with you longer than one long session now and then.

What is the best way to get to know your ankle bones for better balance?

Start by touching them. Find both bumps, then the hollow in front of each, then the heel bone below. After that, move slowly and feel. Roll a seated foot toward its outer and inner edge and notice which bump goes down. Standing, shift your weight forward, back and to each side and sense where it lands on the sole. Small, slow and comfortable gives the clearest picture.

How are the ankle bones different from the bones of the foot?

The ankle joint itself is made by the tibia, the fibula and the talus. The foot below it has 26 bones in total. Seven of them are tarsal bones, which include the talus and the heel bone, then five long metatarsals and fourteen small toe bones. The talus belongs to both groups, which is why it is so often called the key bone of the ankle.

When should I get my ankle bones checked?

Get the ankle seen the same day if you cannot take a few steps on it after a fall or twist. The same goes for soreness when you press the back edge or the tip of either ankle bump. A foot or ankle that looks bent or out of shape needs the same urgency. So does numbness, tingling, or skin that turns pale, blue or cold. Those signs can point to a broken bone or a pinched nerve rather than a simple sprain.