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Impinged Nerve suggestions

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a70089
a70089

Hello,

I posted once before about this problem and didn't get any responses.  I decided to go and have a second opinion done on my ankle issue but continued to have troubles.

I have sporadic severe shooting pains on my inside right ankle that radiate up along my calf that will stop about half way to my knee.  I have been seeing a PT for about 6 weeks and we have been scrapping and ultra sounding the area 2-3 times a week and there has been little change.  In addition each day i do some "flossing" and strengthening type exercises.

The thought is this is an impinged nerve due to the first surgery not healing fully before the next was done to fix the infection.  The odd thing I find with this is my pain didn't start until months after the second surgery.

I had a second opinion done as the original dr when I told him said that he has to cut me back open and scope it.  I am nervous about this and why i did the second opinion.  Second dr recommended PT first.

My questions are how much PT do I give it before I just do the surgery?  

I am not fully clear what is surgically done if an impinged nerve and what sort of successes have people had?  Will this ever go away completely?  

I am saddened by all of this as this was supposed to be such a simple procedure from the start and it is resulting in me being able to do little activities even walking nearly a  year later.  I have a trip with my wife and young kids the end of August i want to be in shape for as well.

Any thoughts or suggestions I would really appreciate it.  

0 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • Jerry137
    Jerry137 a70089

    Posted

    I feel your pain.  I had bimalleolar fracture of the ankle and had surgery almost 14 months ago.  Had a plate and two screws put in place.  I had excruciating pain starting about 10 days after surgery and my doctors tried everything to no avail.  I went through the full PT program and am walking now with an occasional slight limp.  The pain very gradually decreased but has leveled off to about a 4 on a 1 - 10 scale and has not improved at all over the last 4 months. It's painful 24/7. I have not been able to wear shoes or socks on my injured foot since my surgery 14 months ago.

    My surgeon and neurologist both agreed I should get another opinion. I live in Florida, USA and flew up to NYC to go to HSS, Hospital for Special Surgery, which is the best orthopedic hospital in the country.  They gave me some tests and could see right away that I have a neuroma in the back bottom of my ankle.  I am going for surgery in two days to either graft the nerve or more likely bury it in my calf muscle so there will no longer be any pain. A nerve surgeon as well as an orthopedic surgeon will be involved in the surgery as they will also remove all of my hardware as long as they are opening my ankle up.  I'm praying this will solve the problem and will let you know.

    I wouldn't just have another surgery unless they knew what the problem is.  I had an ultrasound and they injected a numbing agent around the nerve area they saw was damaged.  I had 4 hours where I was numb and pretty much all of my pain went away.  For those 4 hours, while the numbing agent was working, my wife said I was a new person, like a kid running around.  The hope is this surgery will duplicate the result permanently.  It was proof that the nerve was the problem.

    I'll let you know how I do in a couple of weeks.

    • warren31723
      warren31723 Jerry137

      Posted

      Did you have numbness in your foot. Bimolllear fracture also. I can't ambulate. This happened 1-22-18. In pt right now. Pretty painful still. Any thoughts on this and what you experienced would be greatly appreciated. Talk of osteopenia also with mine. Plate and 10 screws.

  • kpower
    kpower a70089

    Posted

    Hi a,

    If it were me I wouldn't let them cut me again. If I understood you correctly, you believe the second surgery caused a pinched nerve, and so you would consider a third surgery to fix the second? I'm baffled.

    Neuropathy from pinched nerves should be resolved some other way than the knife. Perhaps if you do more research online you will find more non-surgical options.

    Best to you.

    • a70089
      a70089 kpower

      Posted

      Thanks for the replies.  

      @kpower i agree with you.  At the same time it doesn't seem to be getting any better if not even a bit worse.  The past 2 days have been miserable and simply want relief and to get back to moving.  When I have times like this is when I think about having it done a third time. 

      The first surgery was supposed to be a simple common procedure to remove a spur.  After the surgery and about 6 weeks of waiting for the incision to heal and me getting ill often it had gotten infected.  I had to have a second procedure to clean the infection out.   

      Not sure how the healing process works but the PT believes because the body was never given a chance to finish healing from the first to have a second surgery shortly there after it has caused where I am  today.  

      @Jerry137 i would be anxious to know how your surgery goes.  How did you go about finding and picking this place in NY.  

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