Twisted ankle 4 years ago

[Bamaman]

My wife went thru a mid foot fusion a year ago where plates and screws went on top of her foot to stabilize it since her foot was bone on bone.

She went to a specialized orthopedic surgeon that does nothing but feet and ankles. They are few and far between, but the largest orthopedic clinics usually have one. That is the doctor to see. And look to be sent to physical therapy first as part of the protocol used in such injuries.

I once had an attorney that held many national sprint track records for over 50 years old. He once told me "show me a 60 year old runner and I'll show you a 60 year old cripple." It's just too easy to walk (or run) and wrench the ankle and/or knee in potholes.

 

[luckydude]

I went to the clinic the morning it happened, and they basically told me it will be a long and slow recovery, and didn't need to come back unless it got worse.

So 4 years later its much better, but I am still bothered by it after spending some time on my feet. Its a different pain than when it got twisted. Hard to explain, but something like a numb or dull feeling concentrated on the ankle more, but spread over the entire foot.

I am curious if anyone else had something similar happen, and if it stays the same or gets worse? Anyone have an injury involving tendons that didn't heal as expected an have it looked at a few years later, and get it successfully fixed?

I am 46 and am hoping to ER in the next few years, and am thinking about switching from my employer offered high deductible insurance back to the regular insurance for a year and get the ankle looked at again, thinking maybe it didn't heal properly and possibly something can done to make it better.

I am no doctor, but I'll venture to guess that it may be due to over-compensation. Let's say you have sore knee or ankle; to avoid the discomfort/pain, you put more stress on other parts of the leg to perform the same motion, resulting in those parts becoming sore or painful. This happens often with lower leg injuries.

I injured my left ankle 20 years ago when I was doing judo training. My training partner threw me to the mat and I didn't roll out properly, resulting in my left foot taking the full brunt of the impact. I remember hearing a clear cracking sound and knew that I had broken my ankle. I didn't feel any pain at the time, and being young and dumb, and I didn't even bother to go to the hospital. In the following few months, sometimes when I ran, I felt a slight pain at where I think the break occurred, and to compensate, I adjusted my foot landing (when I run) from heel strike (my natural gait) to more of a foot strike, and that ended up causing Achilles tendonitis on my left foot. It took a couple of years for the ankle pain to go away completely (with the break presumably healed on its own), allowing me to go back to heel strike, and the Archilles tendonitis also went away a few months after that. 20 years on, I haven't had any more problems.

So maybe time is all you need to let it heal properly and for the soreness from overcompensation to go away.

 

[ut2sua]

I sprained my ankle badly when I was a teenager. Years later, I decided to play a team sport that involved lots of running. My ankle would hurt so bad after each game that I could hardly walk (ankle was fine during the game, but hurt badly after I finished the game). Resting for several days in various times didn't improve the situation. I didn't want to give up the sport, and I played on for 6 months having the same problem. My ankle somehow got stronger after that, and since then I have not had the same issue. Good luck

 

[Time2]

Not what you wanted to hear, but here's my case:
I sprained my ankle badly while jogging. Got put in a cast up to the knee for six weeks, and when they took it off I was sorry they didn't leave it on a few more weeks.

But I pressed on, and that ankle was noticeably weaker than the other for the next 30 years. It's back to normal now, but I'm afraid that part of your body is so complicated and fragile that such an injury can sometimes take decades to fully recover.

I sprained my ankle slipping in muddy conditions in 1984, bad sprain, couldn't sleep with a sheet on my big toe*. For over thirty years it would ache and have a feeling like I had to move it, but moving it do absolutely no good. The pain has finally been gone now for 5 or 7 years. I had a massage a few days ago, the masseuse said she could feel lumps and bumps in the ankle and I sure felt it when she pressed on it.


* I lived in a college town at the time and I went to a college medical center. I now believe the doc thought I just wanted drugs. And all I got was, it will heal on it's own. It finally did.

 

[pacergal]

sprains/strains often take longer to heal than a bone break.

I think it is past time to recheck with your Dr or Orthopedist (preferable). Get an updated X-ray and possible MRI. PT referral might help, too.
But definitely get a recheck.

 

[Texas Proud]

I did not see if you had an xray or not...


My wife had hit her knee hard in her late teens... they did nothing about it as it seemed to heal...


Fast forward 25 years and she starts having a terrible time with her knee... it even started to lock up at times... went in and had surgery... found that a piece of bone had broken off and it had grown over the years... it was about the size of a 50 cent piece... it ruined her knee... the doc said she would need a knee replacement eventually...


FF another 5 and she got a knee replacement soon after COVID hit... she was lucky as they had closed all elective surgeries for awhile but then opened it up... they closed it down a month later for a very long time...


Go to a specialist.... see what they say




Edit.... my wife did NOT know she had broken her bone... it was just a chip off of her knee which grew over the years..

 

[Rianne]

It's true a broken bone is different than a strain but I broke my left leg learning to ski. The binding did not open when I tried to avoid a tree. Tangled mess and a cast for 6 months. That made my leg shorter, thinner, and weaker. My right leg had to compensate for all these years. I'm 65 next month, this happened in 6th grade.

My body adjusted, although if you look closely you can see a 1.5-2 inch difference in my knees and the ankles. I believe swimming saved me. Also, treading water. Moving and strengthening those joints and muscles without too much stress like weights. Gradually add a 1/2 lb. weight. Blood flow is important, so heat opens the veins to allow blood to flow and heal. I go to a warm 90 degree therapy pool and water run.

 

[Sk08]

Thanks everyone for sharing your injury and outcome, and suggestions.

Got a price for an ankle x-ray from a podiatrist and was over $600, so going to try some PT at home for a couple months first.

 

[DaveLeeNC]

I was a distance runner for years but finally persistent ankle sprains turned me into a biker. I ended up going to an orthopedic guy (way too late) who took x-rays. The first question that he asked as "when did you break your ankle?". I had no idea that at some point I had a broken ankle.

One thing that happens with ankle sprains (particularly when you have a lot of them) is that the sprains damage the nerves that sense balance so your ability to recover from a 'potential sprain position' is reduced. Work on a wobble board (inexpensive item on Amazon) can be helpful but progress is slow from what I have been told.

dave

 

[luckydude]

Thanks everyone for sharing your injury and outcome, and suggestions.

Got a price for an ankle x-ray from a podiatrist and was over $600, so going to try some PT at home for a couple months first.

I would not presume to tell you how to spend your own money, but if this issue is really bothering you and having an impact on your quality of life, maybe it's better to just spend the $ and see how bad the damage is and get it fixed.

Also, a lot of times you can negotiate the price down directly with a provider if you agree to pay cash for services not covered or only partially covered by insurance. I do that with my dentist.

Wish you speedy recovery!

 

[JBTX]

40 years ago had a bad sprain - they casted it for a while, and while it is a bit weaker overall no serious problems afterwards.

I figured they don’t even do that any more unless there is a break. You look at professional athletes and their turnaround. It seems to me the protocol is to reduce inflammation, exercise it as soon as possible, building up muscles around it, making sure not to make injury worse during the process.

I have zero days of formal or informal training so take that for what it is worth. But I have seen athletes get injured on TV.

 

[JBTX]

I I ran in sandals across an open space because someone was going to set the forest on fire.

.

Talk about burying the lead.

Do tell?

 

[MRG]

Talk about burying the lead.



Do tell?

Our house is on the edge of San Juan national forest, in lots of ponderosa pine trees.
Some short term renters didn't want to follow the rules or more likely weren't informed by the rental agency that we were in a burn ban. The week this happened there was an out of control forest fire 5 miles away, the national forest was in stage 1 of a burn ban, that day was a red flag day with 35+mph winds. We saw people gathering dead limbs from the forest but didn't think it was for outside until we saw the flames were to the roof eves! The national forest is a few hundred yards away but these trees don't know where they live and the fire was going to get the canopy going. It would be all over except the fire crews work. There's several hundred homes that were likely going to be burned because of this fire ours being the second.

I guess I got a big shot of adrenaline and decided to put the fire out. Wearing a pair of sandals, loose on my feet wasn't the smartest thing for running. The renter was a little upset because they wanted to have a bonfire but did put it out as I told them they could deal with me or the sheriff.

 

[Montecfo]

My wife went thru a mid foot fusion a year ago where plates and screws went on top of her foot to stabilize it since her foot was bone on bone.



She went to a specialized orthopedic surgeon that does nothing but feet and ankles. They are few and far between, but the largest orthopedic clinics usually have one. That is the doctor to see. And look to be sent to physical therapy first as part of the protocol used in such injuries.



I once had an attorney that held many national sprint track records for over 50 years old. He once told me "show me a 60 year old runner and I'll show you a 60 year old cripple." It's just too easy to walk (or run) and wrench the ankle and/or knee in potholes.

Yes. Basketball players get ankles fused at a high rate. Example: Bill Walton-both ankles fused.

 

[Montecfo]

I was a distance runner for years but finally persistent ankle sprains turned me into a biker. I ended up going to an orthopedic guy (way too late) who took x-rays. The first question that he asked as "when did you break your ankle?". I had no idea that at some point I had a broken ankle.

One thing that happens with ankle sprains (particularly when you have a lot of them) is that the sprains damage the nerves that sense balance so your ability to recover from a 'potential sprain position' is reduced. Work on a wobble board (inexpensive item on Amazon) can be helpful but progress is slow from what I have been told.

dave

Sounds like me. They ask me "how many times have you broken this ankle?" Never as far as I knew. But I had some bad ankle sprains over the years playing basketball, especially before the advent of good high-top shoes.

Now it has lots of painful bone spurs and calcium deposits.

You want to take such injuries seriously and treat with rest ice compression and elevation. Surgery is seldom indicated unless there is a tear or break, but treatment matters.

Having said that, some of this is just the result of being very active in sports over long periods. That and the idea that once you sprain, more can often follow due to stretched ligaments or weakness.

 

[Texas Proud]

Thanks everyone for sharing your injury and outcome, and suggestions.

Got a price for an ankle x-ray from a podiatrist and was over $600, so going to try some PT at home for a couple months first.

Try one of those quick clinics that have an x-ray.... we took my daughter in for a sprained ankle and they took an x-ray... the whole thing cost us about $100 or so...

 

[SVHoper]

My position is that an specialist who looks at 20+ ankles per day would be v. valuable.

My experience is not much use to you. I had a very, very, very mild injury compared to those described in this thread. Stepped the wrong way off a single step and it hurt like crazy for only a couple of minutes and then I could walk and use the ankle "straight" without pain (minimal initial swelling). It surprised me how long the injury lasted. However, twisting the ankle the "wrong way" still hurt for well more than a year. About two years after, I noticed it didn't hurt any longer. So just agreeing that ankle injuries can last a long time.

Random: Just recently reading about MCL (knee) and found they can heal in a stretched loose position.

 

[imnontrad]

Get a referral to a physical therapist. That has done wonders for both my knee and my shoulder. In the case of both, the muscles "forgot" how to bend certain ways after being injured. I now have a LOT more mobility and have avoided surgery.