. . . following an MRI and x-ray? Pain that my GP said was normal wear and tear aches and to suck it up? :dubious:
Okay, I’ll bite. What’s the diagnosis?
Thank you for biting! Here it is:
-Osteochondrial lesion on medial talar dome (broken off/dead bone space)
-Partial tear of the deltoid ligament
-Partial tears of the anterior and posterior talofibular ligaments
-Partial tear of the calcaneofibular ligament
-Tenosynovitis (fluid on the ankle joint)
Thank you in advance for sympathy and coos of dismay 
Ooo - sounds uncomfortable at best, possibly painful on a regular basis.
Did the doc have any suggestion for you beyond just “suck it up and suck on a Tylenol”?
RICE and I saw an ortho 18 months ago who put me in physical therapy, said she didn’t need x-rays/MRIs to know that I had tendonitis and just had to stretch and ice.
On Tuesday I have an appt with one of the best ankle specialists in Philly, thank God!
Anklebiter!
Mileage varies on this, but personally I have caused more injuries and extension of injuries by stretching. When something is injured, stretching only tears the area more. I favor strengthening over stretching. That’s the way it works for me. With an ankle, about all you can do it wait.
It means you’re stretching too hard. When stretching an injury, if you go to the point you can feel it, you’ve gone too far. Gentle stretching will help bring extra blood and nutrients to the injury.
FWIW, I just graduated from several months of physical therapy for a much less scary ankle issue, and stretching was absolutely vital to my recovery, and continues to be necessary to avoid problems. (My calf had gotten so tight and stiff that it was yanking my foot backwards, thus interfering with the motion of the joint, and also preventing my foot from flexing toward my shin properly.)
So I say, it sounds like you might need surgery and NSAIDS and all kinds of fun stuff, but you probably will need a (good) physical therapist as well, to make sure you’re resting when you should, stretching when and how vigorously you should, and exercising and strengthening in the way you should. They’re all elements of recovery.
So, how much do you want to grind the test results into your GP’s face, while screaming, “JUST ACHES & PAINS, HUH?”
Yikes. Sounds like an awful lot of fuss and bother. Have you considered just having at amputated? No? I do hope that you recover soon.
ouch! what caused all this? any idea?
Hi Cinn: add being accused of being a drug seeker after plowing through 10 Tylenol 3s in three days, and – oh yes! I just need to get through the referral processes and then I’ll be changing to a caring and competent GP. Thank God my Ortho prescribes real pain management meds.
Thanks for the PT stuff. I am afraid that I’m facing surgery, though I don’t know when the Hell I would take time off work to take care of it.
The joke amongst SO and friends are that it would have been a lot ($@!)! easier just to go with the power saw and a stylish pegleg.
I think decades of being highly active and sustaining a few major and many minor injuries to the ankle: accumulative damage at age 43. I also have naturally very flat feet and that contributes to injury vulnerability, because the joint has greater motility. 
Thanks for the sympathies and inquiries. For the last 8 months my exercise has been limited to limping around work (which is probably a mile a day); even non-weight bearing activities are painful. I will be so very, very grateful if this can be resolved – now, when people talk about battling chronic pain I have a far more empathetic response.
This sucks, and the lack of meaningful exercise makes me depressed*. Man, welcome to middle age!
*And seeing women wearing high heels, especially stilettos, actually makes me nauseated.
I’ve always had weak ankles. All my life walking somewhere usually meant that I’d either trip over something (or, in some cases, my own foot) sooner or later. My right ankle is the more vulnerable, though – along with the tripping, it’s also been nearly broken twice, the Achilles tendon partially sliced (thanks to the corner of a fast-moving metal door), and has been known to twist itself at any given moment. I’ve got the crutches in the hallway closet, just in case.
The last time I was in PT I was told that yes, indeed I have arthritis in both, but more so in the right. Cumulative injuries have rendered my right ankle very hyperflexible – it’s as though I have rubber bands rather than tendons and ligaments. Shoes are a bitch because I need the support, and I can’t wear boots during the summer, y’know?
Oh, and early on I knew I’d never be able to wear high heels. Just seeing a pair makes me curl my toes.
Wow, I’m so glad you’ve finally found a competent doctor will to order the right tests. I’ve spent the last three months in a cast for a foot injury and I’m ready to take the damn thing off with my teeth. I never thought I’d miss the gym.
Doctors who think 43 is a fine age to learn to cope with pain because they’re too damn lazy to do their jobs should be dangled over a shark pool.
i hear ya about not being able to exercise, i have to sit/lay around all day, getting no cardio. cant be good for me
I’ve been told not to stretch at all if there are tears, because it delays healing. So the tendonitis I had in my arms, gentle stretching and massage was fine to help increase blood flow. For my rotator cuff injury, no stretching allowed, because there was a small tear.