Ankle pain for almost 2 years now after a sprain
Posted , 27 users are following.
I know only doctors can properly tell me what's wrong, but I'm hoping someone here might have some insight to what is wrong with my ankle.
Almost 2 years ago, in March 2014, I sprained my ankle pretty badly playing soccer. Went to the ER the next day (because people told me it was just a sprain and I needed rest. I went anyway because it felt like something was wrong, and I never go to doctors unless I need to). They made an x-ray, told me it wasn't broken, but probably badly sprained. Got a hard cast for 10 weeks. Afterwards, they put my in some kind of soft cast (because I'm allergic to tape), but told me I had to start walking without crutches. This was extremely painful still, and my foot was still swollen like a balloon and black and blue everywhere, but they didn't say anything about it at the hospital so I thought that it was normal. They told me it would take a month to get back to normal.
After 2 weeks I had to go back, but my ankle still felt stiff, was swollen and painful, so they sent me to get physical therapy. They then said it would take 2 months to get back to normal.
I had therapy, so stretching and exercises, for months. There they said I had also pulled/torn a tendon, and that's why I was still feeling pain. They told me it would take at least 6 months to get back to normal.
After half a year I went back to a specialist in the hospital and told him I still couldn't run, walking stairs and even in every day life, my ankle still hurt a lot, and still got swollen every day. He said a sprain that had been as bad as mine could take up to a year to heal, and that it was possible that it still got swollen and hurt, and that I shouldn't overthink it. He did tell me, that if I had gone to him in the first place, instead of to the ER (like I had a choice..) he would've put me in cast for longer. But, it wouldn't matter now, I would heal within a year.
After a year, I went back to him, still complaining about pain. I could walk, but longer walks would cause pain, and I still couldn't play soccer. And basically, my ankle hurt a lot. My mom once tried to give me a massage, and I couldn't walk for 4 days. He told me again that it could take a very long time, even longer than a year.
No scans or anything were made, because he didn't believe anything was wrong.
A few months back, so one and a half year after the injury, I went to see a special sports doctor in Belgium (I live in the Netherlands.) He used an ultrasound to look at the area of pain, and was surprised to hear I had only had one x-ray, and at the time it had happened. He told me my tendons and ligaments looked fine, but he saw some white stripes that apparently meant calcination (hope it's the right word). He said these things could easily be missed and they should've done another x-ray after a few weeks as well. He gave me a shot of something, and I had to come back after a few weeks. I did, and he stated the shot hadn't helped enough, so something was causing the swelling. I pointed him the area of pain, and he said I was pointing at the Fibula, the bone on the outside. So, he said I could've had a stress fracture, that wouldn't be visible on the first x-ray, but could be causing me pain because it hadn't healed, since I had to walk after only 10 days again. He suggested I go get an MRI.
So, back I went to the specialist. He of course, didn't believe a word the belgian doctor had said, but, "just to rule things out" he gave me permission to get an MRI.
I have to back tomorrow to get the results. Thing is, I don't believe I will get answers. He firmly believes it's nothing, and the pain I am feeling is just because the sprain of 2 years ago. So I don't think he'll look very hard to find out what could be wrong. And you see, it wouldn't be the first time they'd miss something on the MRI. I've had 2 injuries (one in my toe, the other in my knee) where they did MRI's, told me I was fine, and years of struggling and complaining later, they found out what was wrong (toe - recurring swelling, was taken care of with a few shots, knee - some loose thing they removed with surgery). So I'm very afraid they will once again look at the MRI, expecting nothing, maybe looking in the wrong place, missing it once again, and leaving me with yet another injury that has yet to be solved.
Of course, when that happens, I will go back to the belgian doctor, but I have no idea 1. what's wrong with my ankle and why I still have this much pain, and 2. what I could do next. I'm just really worried, and the constant pain and not knowing what is wrong drives me nuts.
Is there anyone that has any idea?
(Ps I was trying to add a picture of my ankle showing where exactly it hurt, but it won't upload it for some reason.)
1 like, 30 replies
mariana74208 jenniferd94
Posted
jenniferd94
Posted
Funny to see this was posted a year ago. Not funny to read more people having problems that they don't fix. And even less funny to think about it still hasn't been fixed. I have shockwave therapy now but it still hurts. Surgery is "not possible because for that it's not certain or bad enough". So guess I'll have to learn to cope with the pain, right? Stupid doctors. I don't mind if they cut me open to find out what's wrong.
lexie05319 jenniferd94
Posted
Hi,
I am a 13 year old girl. When I was 3 years old, I went to a children's doctor. They told my parents that I just sprained my ankle and it wasn't a big deal. I couldn't walk for days. In 1st grade I started basketball. I did basketball from 1st to 5th grade straight in elementary school. Until 1st grade, I hadn't had any pain in my ankle or foot and I did cheerleading and dance in kindergarten. In 5th grade, I ended up with a sprained ankle from basketball. It didn't last too long, a normal sprain. In 6th grade, I sprained my ankle 4 times. I know! Unbelievable. I went on crutches multiple times. In 7th grade, I sprained my ankle 3 times and injured a bone in my knee. (Again crutches!) When I hurt my knee, it was early October. Ever since, I have throbbing pain in my knee that causes me to collapse and not be able to walk. Along with my ankles, I sprained them so many times I went to the doctor. The doctor said my ligaments and bones in my ankle never healed. I fractured something in my ankle and it never healed right. So when I sprained it again, it never healed. Now I have chronic pain in my ankles and knee. The doctors say when I get older I might need surgery to fix the fractures. I feel embarrassed because at school I'm the girl with big bulky braces on her ankles. This is just my story and I know people have it way worse than me. I just wanted to share if anyone is going through what I'm going through.
jenniferd94 lexie05319
Posted
Pains me to see that there are so many more doctors out there that don't seem to take everyone that serious. I mean, I understand somewhat, because there are so many people that have a low pain tolerance or go to the doctor for a simple bruise. But come on, if someone has this many sprains or like me has walked around with pain for more than 3 years now, why can't they take it seriously.
Hope you can get the help you need, even if it includes surgery.
steroth jenniferd94
Posted
jenniferd94 steroth
Posted
The awful thing about it all is that you have to wait forever. First the hospital and a cast, then physio, then oh well let's go back to the doctor. Then send to another one and then you still have to wait for a scan or something. But at least I hope they find something on your scan (if you get one and I think you should).
kpower jenniferd94
Posted
Jenni,
Sorry to hear you are still struggling with ankle pain subsequent to your bad ankle sprain so long ago.
This forum board is full of sufferers whose ankles take forever to heal, or never heal (and then to turn to surgery if a physician suggests it)
As a fellow ankle victim (bad ankle sprain with bimalleolar fracture on right medial ankle-- no surgery) it has been a long road to recovery (5 months now). What's interesting is I bounced back quickly once I was allowed to go full weight bearing and got into regular shoes. I then walked with a fairly normal gait and no limp within a few weeks. However, pain on the inside of that ankle hung around (but it is getting better by the week). I initially just thought the ligaments in that area (deltoid complex of ligaments) were stretched and weak and probably had scar tissue/inflammation.
After some online research I self-diagnosed my condition as post tibial tendon dysfunction, or PTTD. A foot doctor (DPM) later confirmed it. The post tibial tendon is critical to normal walking function because it is is involved in biomechanics of walking, and supports foot arch.
PTTD is a nasty beastie of a condition. It involves a tendon (tendons connect muscle to bone), in this case it is a tendon attached to a muscle in back of calf to insertion on bones on bottom of foot). If post tib tendon is stretched or torn, as can happen in an ankle sprain or fracture, it can be difficult to heal. And if not addressed properly in some people it can be progressive, leading to persistant ankle pain, and possibly adult acquired flat feet (fallen arches).
There are specific exercises and treatments to help heal PTTD (online info).
As I have stated in a previous post, foot injuries are not all alike, and they are really complex in nature.
I wish you a pain-free and fully functional foot very soon.
FuthiVal jenniferd94
Posted
Hi Jennifer,
I can very much relate to you. I had a sprain last year and unfortunately for me, I thought it was just minor. 6 months later it wasn't healing as nicely as I would have like it to. The swelling was not there but it was still sore. I stopped walking and jogging because it was unbearable. I then went to a Physio and she sent me to the specialist ( orthopedic surgeon) with the x-ray results and he also said it was a bad sprain with 2 ligaments badly torn and a minor bone fracture. Nothing that shouldn't heal in the coming 6 months or so. A year later, went back to the physio as my ankle wasn't OK still. We did the acupuncture and exercises and it seemed to be responding. It's been exactly a year and 2 months and my ankle hasn't completely healed. It doesn't swell up but it's uncomfortable. I do exercises when I sit ( the alphabets etc) and I cover it with the ankle straps once a week. i'm beyond frustrated to be honest
I'm heading back to the physio next year ( funds got exhausted from all the treatments and physio visits)
udit786 jenniferd94
Posted
What should I do??
I have not played football since a month
angel27169 jenniferd94
Posted
Hi, I've been having a similar issue. In July, I was at my uncle's house rolled my ankle and fell down two steps because of it. They sent me to the hospital because my ankle had swelled up badly. It got the size of a tennis ball. I have elhers-danlos by the way. The hospital took Cray's and said it was just a sprain with a like 1 inch crack in the ankle. They gave me an air cast and crutches. It has yet to get better, I'll try to walk on it with out extra support but unfortunately my ankle begins to curl underneath me, the ankle feels weak, and half the time is numb or is in pain. Whenever I try to bend my ankle it goes only a fraction of the range of my other ankle. When I do force it to bend up I get a pain going up the back of my calf to my knee if my ankle doesn't pop and go numb. My ankle when I don't force it to be positioned normally it tends to bend towards my other ankle for some reason as well
I went to the local orthopedic specialist (who yelled at me for an hour saying that elhers-danlos is fake) he took two Cray's, one of the front of the ankle and one of the inner part. From that he said that he found nothing orthopedically wrong with it. My primary said from his observations he believed it was a ligament injury but because the ortho said he didn't see anything wrong he wanted a second opinion so now he has me going to a foot specialist and a neurologist.
Does anyone have any idea what this might be because I can not walk too far with out crutches when I have a compression sock on with an ankle support over top and that barely helps. I hate how its becoming a guessing game because I've had a total of four doctor appoi tments between the ortho and primary so far.
hardy007 jenniferd94
Posted
i have taken xrays, and my doctor said everything is just fine. i took rest for one month and after than started playing. my ankle still pains but only when i walk. i am able to play and run. but still i am suffering from pain.
michelleb1972 jenniferd94
Posted
I have read all of your discussion...I'm so sorry you and all these others have had to suffer. I too have an ankle issue. I was about 14 when I turned my right ankle in from stepping off a sidewalk....i am now 45 and I have been dealing with pain since then. I was off my foot for 6 weeks...couldnt bear weight at all. Now if I walk for too long...or stand on my feet for too long....after I sit even briefly and get up ...the pain and stiffness is agonizing. I have seen an orthopedic surgeon who told me the same thing all of you have been told . Nothing wrong on xrays or mri....if I get any real answers I will definitely let you all know so maybe someone else may get some relief.
Helen4079 jenniferd94
Posted
I had sprained my ankle while doing dodgeball in Karate when i moved to the side my ankle rolled over. I thought it was a mild sprain since the previous 2 ones I had were healed within 2 days. I decided to wait 2 weeks and I wen to the orthopedics and they gave me an x-ray and diagnosed me with a bone bruise so they prescribed medicine for the inflamatation which turns out I was allergic to it so they had me take Motrin. Then when I had regular visits my ankle wasn't getting any better so my orthopedic ordered an MRI. So the results of my MRI was just an ankle sprain, so I received a paper full of rehab exercises and a while later I found my MRI results, which was that I had a ankle sprain and a bone bruise and that my growth plate was secondary to my age. The weird thing is when I sprained it it never swelled. I didn't see it getting any better until after 4 months which it is healed but I still have pain at times and when the orthopedic nurse came in the room the day I got my results I heard my orthopedic tell the nurse I had a high ankle sprain. Does anyone know why my ankle still hurts?
zuke60218 jenniferd94
Posted
Hello everyone I've had a sprained ankle for over a year now but I found a very good thing recently to massage the bottom of the foot with a very well blown up tennis ball rolling it and massaging the tendons and muscles on the underside of the foot has given me great relief from my troublesome ankle which I severely sprained last year I still don't know whether it was a broken bone or not but massaging it has given me great relief
colinreidcr jenniferd94
Posted
I have broken my ankle 3 years ago due to walking all the time and have sore tendons till this day..I'm being told that it could never heal but I guess I'm still hopefull that it will. Due to this I'm struggling to loose weight even though I'm weight lifting..