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.
I have had an ankle problom for 3 years now and I have had difficulty doing all of the regular things I used to do day to day and I don't understand what has happened. I have had 4 different braces, an air cast, and an actual cast. I went through many months of physical therapy and it still didn't help. I strengthened it but it didn't help the pain. I am very confused on why and if possible, I want to get it fixed. I don't know if I need sugery, or if it just will stop on its own but I find the second option highly unlikeley. The strange thing is that I have went to the doctor 12 times now and I hope to get it fixed. I'd like it if you could tell me what you had to do to figure it out and I hope that I will get better and I am Glad you finnaly figured it out. Thanks!
Hi Tiina5704 - I have the same cold feeling in my injured ankle! What was your diagnosis?? Please help - I've been having this for a year and the doctors can't figure it out!
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)
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.
hey its harsh fro india. i got my ankle twisted when i was playing football and its been 6 mnths from injury.
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.
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.
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?
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
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..