Osteochondritis dissecans in ankle
Posted , 28 users are following.
Hi all,
Seems us folks with osteochondritis dissecans in the ankle are not too common.
I have suffered with this condition since 1996, and it's been quite a lonely thing as I don't know anyone else with this in their ankle.
I have had two rounds of keyhole surgery for a grade 5 lesion, although I don't believe my lesion is too big on the grand scheme of things. I used to play an awful lot of sport when my ankle went wrong. My GP at the time failed to diagnose me for a long time, repeatedly sending me away with a muscle strain, eventually I got a second opinion and the x-ray confirmed I had soft bone in my joint. Unfortunately nobody took any action to immobilise itt and the soft bone fractured out into my ankle joint.
Luckily I got an amazing GP when I went to university and she was responsible for me seeing a good specialist and getting surgery in 1998 and again in 2002. This really helped to stabilise my ankle and after a number of years being quite active (I was able to walk upto 8 miles at a time!) in spring 2011 things went wrong again. This time my back was the problem. After not being able to get a diagnosis through all the tests on the NHS I found an osteopath who has diagnosed my problems. I have developed a scoliosis of the spine due to my ankle problems tipping my pelvis forward on the right side (same side as ankle joint affected). This in turn has put my back out of line and has stopped me doing a lot of stuff I used to enjoy. Its frustrating and really has knocked my confidence, as well as painful most days in some way.
The NHS have not ever really known what to do about the chronic pain I have experienced (even after the successful 2002 surgery I've had periods of intense pain in that joint), and now it seems I have chronic back pain to add to the mix. Even getting physio to help mobilise my back has taken 15 weeks.
Has anyone else out there experienced back pain after having osteochondritis in their joints. If so did they find any particular strategy worked in getting help with pain and knock on effects? I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone else with their experiences.
1 like, 31 replies
AntCam AlexBoney
Posted
All though it's been months since the last post, I think it's still important to keep this somewhat active since this injury is so rare. My experience is pretty typical but I think it's still worth sharing.
So in February of 2015, when I was 14 I was experiencing this pain in my ankle but it was only if I would run or if I stepped weird. I also heard a click pop kind of noise which would cause it to hurt. I put it off for six weeks while runnig on it every day and playing basketball two tiems a week. I figured it would just go away over time. After the six weeks I figured I should do something about it because when it did hurt, it was excruciating but just for a few seconds. My school athletic trainer wasn't quite sure what it was. My school has a real doctor that comes in once a week so when he looked at it he thought that it might be OCD of the left ankle. I got an x-ray and it looked like that was the case. I was in a boot from this point forward and couldn't do any weight bearing activity. I was told that it would heal in about 4-6 weeks. This was good as I could then run cross country in the fall. I then got an MRI about 4 weeks later because it hurt even to walk around in the boot. The MRI showed the lesion to be about 1cm by 1 cm. Since there was no sign of improvement. surgery was needed. I got surgery in June of 2015. It went very well as I only needed pain pills for 4 days. I was on crutches for about 6 weeks, and then in a boot for about 2. I was then able to walk again and started therapy. Therapy went pretty well and I was back to running in late October. I was able to run track this past spring and cross country this fall. My ankle tendons and muscles I don't feel have full healed ever since the surgery though as I hurt it by playing basketball a few weeks ago. My one concern that I have is, I still can feel a popping noise every so often just like if I would crack my knuckles. Has anyone else experienced this? It doesn't hurt at all but it is similar to the popping noise that I heard before. The popping noise has been going on for months but I think it has been more frequent recently. After reading all of your guys's stories, I feel I have had it easy. If you are going through the same thing as I did, there is definitely a way to get back to full health and live your life they way you use to. Just don't let negative thoughts overcome you. Thanks for reading!