I left the podiatrist satisfied with the diagnosis, but later started questioning it or maybe I just don’t understand. I sprained my ankle about 10 years ago. I had a telephone fall on my leg/foot/ankle, i don’t remember. I don’t remember if it was an inversion or eversion sprain, but I believe it was eversion. about 5 years after it happened i started getting flare ups about once every 1 to 3 months where i could not move my ankle without intense pain and the would last 1-2 days. lately they’ve been happening more often, lasting longer and getting more painful. so naturally i go to the doctor.
According to the sports medicine doctor visit (visited during flare up):
Poor range of motion but good strength within that range, no tenderness, no visible swelling
Result: Ordered X-ray, returned later that day to review X-ray, X ray looks normal. post-tramautic arthritis ruled out
Result of X-ray review: Referred to specialist
According to the podiatrist (unable to visit during flare up):
Good strength, good range of motion, no tenderness, no swelling (obviously), X-ray looks normal
Diagnosis: Every time I feel the pain it is actually a medial sprain since, because of my injury, I am at a greater risk of developing an ankle sprain. She said there is a cluster of ligaments behind the ankle that are commonly re-injured. Buy some (powerstep type) insoles and wear a brace when doing any type of activity other than walking. This is how she said it to me, but maybe it was greatly simplified.
the diagnosis seemed odd considering
No (visible) swelling during flare-upspain (on scale 1-10) is 9.5 when ankle is moved, about 6 when stationaryno tendernessmy ankle can bear my body weight without increased painflare-up has never began during running or any kind of exercise (has only ever began while walking normally)pain gradually, albeit relatively quickly, increases. For example the pain increases from a 1 to a 9.5 gradually over about 100 yards, even without moving ankle.pain almost suddenly goes away. Literally goes from severe pain to none at all within 30 seconds. When the pain goes away I get muscular stiffness from being unable to move for that time period. I am immediately able to jump, run, etc. with no limitations. I can even do ankle flexion weight exercises with full weight.seems to have a relation with the weather, but may just be a coincidence.
from what I have researched none of these are common of a stage 1 (or 2) ankle strain. the pain seems to be coming from the subtalar joint. I read once that a small percentage of ankle sprains cause damage to the subtalar joint. if the diagnosis is likely correct how does restricting lateral movement affect non-lateral pain? any ideas or experiences are much appreciated. sorry about the length post but i’ve been to a handful of different doctors with different answers.
