I am a 24 yr old athletic male. My main sport is Basketball and I have severely rolled my ankle over 10 times as long as I've been playing. About a year ago I went snowboarding and went off of a few jumps. After the jumps my ankle felt tight and and when I got home to remove my boots, my ankle was swollen. It was no big deal at the time as I have injured it many times.

Then my ankle started to swell when I played basketball to the point where I had no ROM and I didnt even roll it. It would even swell on days when I would be walking around the store doing errands, and the pain would sometimes be so severe that I would go to the ER because it hurt so bad. I have had X-Rays, MRI, a Bone Scan, and Blood tests for Osteo and Rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus, and Gout. All of these test were negative. I even had a cortizone shot and that didnt help.

Its been over a year of frustration not being able to play the sport that I love and enjoy and it has even interfered with my work because I have to walk alot.

I am currently thinking about have arthroscopic surgery for them to see whats going on with my ankle.

If anyone knows whats going on, or has had the same problems and symptoms that I have, Please shed some light on this for me.

Thank You So Very Much.

I just had arthroscopy where the ortho surgeon removed massive amounts of scar tissue that didn't show up on MRI. Mine was from previous surgeries but numerous ankle sprains can produce it as well. have you seen a foot and ankle orthopaedic surgeon? My regular ortho sent me to one when I first started having problems and he found things on the MRI that the report didn't even make notation of.

Emmie's experience, having an ankle arthroscopy that finds all kinds of problems the MRI missed, is very common. MRI's just don't seem to work as well on feet as they do on some other areas of the body--and many doctors don't recognize that. I'm having my arthroscopic surgery in 15 days, for something called anterolateral impingement syndrome, and your problems sound a lot like mine.

I walk with a cane, I've learned to sleep with my feet hanging off the end of the bed so I don't accidentally bend my ankles in a painful way. When I first saw my surgeon, he said, there are two types of chronic problems following ankle sprains. One is, it gives way, then hurts, the other is, it holds up, but is painful. The first is instability. Easier to diagnose, harder to fix. The other is what I've got. Also, he had me squat down. That hurt like crazy. Then he gave me a cortisone shot into a very particular spot, and it helped. For about 10 days, I was about 60% better, even after it wore off, it hasn't returned to being quite as bad as it was before the shot.

Go see a doctor who is a board-certified foot and ankle surgeon (not the same as podiatrist). Anyone else is probably useless for this.

Instist on a foot & ankle ortho specialist.

Jane, my dx was impingement syndrome, too. very, very painful. re: MRI's. I had torn both peroneals (surgery #2, PTTD being #1) and only one showed up on MRI. The other was plain as day when he got in there.

I'm just trying to tell other people what I wish someone had been able to tell me when I first came to this board months ago. Keep us posted on your recovery, emmie!

Jane, so far, recovery sucks! sorry, I'm usually very positive but I was dx with a stress fracture Friday of 2nd metatarsal. My doc put me in a post op shoe instead of boot so my ankle joint can keep moving so scar tissue can't build back up. I was weight bearing but the pain has gotten worse day by day. By this morning I couldn't put weight on it at all as my big toe had shooting pains in it. I emailed my doc and he said to go on crutches until I can tolerate weight. Said 2nd met fractures often refer pain to the big toe, too. lucky me! I was so very disappointed because my ankle joint has felt better than it has in two years and I really didn't want this setback. I'll be okay, just having a bad day. last night was awful. But I'm sure, this, too, shall pass!

Ive been playing basketball whenever the pain is not bothering me. But after 2 pickup games, I start to feel the sharp pains again that immobilize me. I know my case may seem minor compared to other people, but I'm 24 and I'm afraid of problems in the future. I'm seeing a Foot and Ankle Specialist (3rd doctor), (1st doc was sports med., 2nd doc was ortho surgeon) and He had me do a Telos Stress test for my ankle. I will find out the results this thursday and I'm afraid he may not find anything. If he does not find anyhting I will tell him to do arthroscopic surgery because I've got nothing to lose.

Are your injuries Sports related...By the way Thanks for the replies :)

Mine was Adult Acquired Flatfoot Deficiency, which basically means they don't know why your arch decides to collapse in adulthood. The torn peroneals was a result of the new alignment of the foot putting too much stress on them. Instead of adapting to the new position they decided to give up and snap! The scar tissue was due to the previous surgeries long immobilization periods.

What is a Telos stress test? I never heard of that before.

I think a Telos test is an x-ray using a special device to try to pull on the joint, as a way of checking the ligaments for stability.

My original injury, back in sept 05, and most of the 3 or 4 others since, were sports. Hiking, fencing, ah, so much fun. Still, it's been no sports for me for over a year, except lifting weights at the gym. Even swimming hurts my poor ankle, because the crawl forces the ankle to straighten fully, and mine doesn't.

I don't have any instability. I had a little at one point, but I was able to eliminate it through exercise.

I just heard today that my surgery was approved by insurance, though, and that was the last major hurdle. My blood tests were done this morning, and I have my pre-op next week. God willing, I will hike and run again someday soon. At this point, I'll settle for being able to get to work without my friend Mr. Cane.

Hang in there, Emmie

I am a 24 athlete like you. I ran cross country, indoor, and outdoor track (distance), plus 3 boston marathons. (sprained my ankle many many times healing it only enough for me to run again) I have seen many trainers, doctors, & surgeons. about half a dozen. And I went to some what were supposed to be some of the best. I finally went to see a this last foot and ankle specialist. He took x rays (nothing), and then we went and did an mri (just incase I had a stress fracture and the mri revealed I had posterior tibial tendonitis, but on the mri no tears to the tendon. I went through months of 3 months in a walking boot, then orthodics and physical therapy for months and then a cast for about 2 months nothing worked so he figured the tendonitis had to be worse than what was showing and we schedualed the surgery. At this point I should also state my foot on that side was now flat. When I went into the surgery he found that my tendon was torn laterally not the norm which is horizontally and that is why he could not see it on the xray. so Maybe you should have the mri done? are you flat footed on one side?

Kristin

I have already had an MRI done already and it didnt reveal anything. I had all the tests done,xrays and even a bone scan. I'm not flat footed on either side so thats not the problem. I only have this pain when I play Basketball or if Im walking and I step in a funny way. I hope this foot and ankle guy can get to the bottom of this. He thinks I may have a torn ligament, which is causing the inflammation because my bones rub together if I step a certain way. He also noticed that my ankle was much more loose than the other one.

Hey,
I am 26, formerly competitive triathlete, I would recommend that you go to the best foot and ankle surgeon you can find, and get him to look at the scans, as I found out not all foot and andkle surgeons are as good as each other. I recomend you go for the arthroscopy because the xrays MRI's etc never really showed too much wrong with my ankle (well compared to the level of pain and lack of ROM I was experienceing) and in every one of my 6 operations the surgeon has commented that the ankle was much worse than the scans suggested... I don't believe scans now.

I would also get someone very good to look at your ankle as what you do now will affect the cartilage etc in the future. Don't do impact sports till they work it out as you don't want to be destroying cartilage if that is happening it will just complicate things down the line.

All the best, the surgeons always made me feel like a bit of a hypochondriac and told me it was nothing major wrong, until my 4th operation where it wsa clear my leg was totally stuffed, so just keep trying.

Like I said, MRI and X-ray just tend not to work very well on feet and ankles. I think it has to do with how tiny they are and how very many bones, muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons, and membranes there are in there. If you have a major fracture, they'll probably find it. Otherwise? Maybe, maybe not.

My working diagnosis, anterolateral impingement syndrome, for example, is detected by MRI about 30% of the time, (and therefore missed 70% of the time!) I know several people who had ankle MRI that missed torn tendons or ligaments. MRI with contrast (they inject you with a special dye, to make the tissues show up better) is much more accurate, although it's still not perfect.

I just wish the doctors would read the literature that proves this stuff, and stop deciding that negative MRI implies foot pain sufferer is a wimp, or has some weird nerve problem, and either way can't be helped much. Or at least stop wasting valuable time and treatment dollars using conventional MRI on feet and switch to the contrast kind!

Well, Im gonna definitely go for arthroscopic surgery because Im getting tired of not being able to do the things that I want. Throughout this year I have gained as much as 25 lbs due to lack of excercise and activity. Im going to see my Foot and ankle specialist tomorrow, Would I be heading in the right direction by telling him that I want the Arthroscopic surgery done to see whats going on inside?

Well, arthroscopy is unlikely to be a bad idea. The recovery from arthroscopic surgery is short, and fairly easy, from what I've heard. 1 week on crutches and a month or two to full recovery, and serious complications are extremely rare. However, there are a couple things to keep in mind:

1) Torn tendons and ligaments generally cannot be repaired arthroscopically, they will require a larger incision and immobilization for a month or more.

2) Some doctors like to feel like they are in charge, so be careful how you ask.

Regarding the weight gain: Even if you schedule the surgery the next time you see him, it'll still be a while before you are playing basketball again. I had to wait 6 weeks for surgery, then I'll have another 6 weeks of recovery. Back last November, when it became clear I wasn't getting better on any defined timetable, I joined a gym and started lifting weights. I'm pretty pleased with my results so far. If you switch exercises between sets, instead of resting, it's also quite aerobic. (meaning 10 bicep culs immediately followed by 10 tricep dips, then more bicep curls)

I would tell him that.. but he will want to follow his own protocol. He may find things on the MRI that others missed. Mine did. and as Jane said, MRI didn't show my impingment either but it did show inflammation in the area that should be inflamed with impingement. He pointed it out to me even though it wasn't noted on the report. My doctor was always quick to tell me that he doesn't treat MRI reports, he treats patients. Hopefully your guy will be as great as mine is. A good one makes all the difference. If you don't feel good about this one, find another. Trust is important when you are dealing with your feet. Let us know what happens.

I agree with the others, but I just wanted to say, MAKE SURE THE SURGEON IS THE BEST FOOT AND ANKLE SPECIALIST YOU CAN FIND! I had a guy (supposedly one of the best in New Zealand) do a very bad arthroscopic surgery, he missed a bunch of stuff, then gave me very bad surgical advice that I could go and do ironman and etc like there had never been a problem it was all fixed. Also said that not to come back as there was not much else anyone could do. Yeah... so I did ironman, and carried on doing other sports, and it wasn't till I fell down the stairs and got an x-ray just in case, that they discovered how bad my leg was... then I had a failed cartilage replacement (2 more operations) and now I have a total ankle replacement. (None of these were done with that surgeon, nor any surgeon in NZ)

If I had a doctor do my 3rd surgery (arthroscopic) who had noticed the other problems going on in my leg, and not given me such terrible advice, then maybe I'd still have my own ankle...

I'm not saying it is always going to be that bad, but if you are a difficult case then I don't think it would be a waste of time to see someone really good and hopefully make this the end of it all, at least for a very long time!

All the best
Kira

Well.....Just had my arthoscopic surgery on my ankle. The doctor was really surprised at what he found. He diagnosed me with PVNS (Pigmented Villinodular Synovitis). A very uncommon thing for the ankle.

Well, I can't tell you much about that. I'm glad to hear you've gotten some answers, though.

Did the surgeon comment on the condition of your ligaments/bone/cartilage? Are you in a splint? Do you know what your recovery timetable will be like? Was he able to remove the synovitis?

Keep icing and keep the foot propped way up, above your head if possible. If you have a cast, putting ice behind your knee can help.

Best of luck--I had my arthroscopy 4 weeks ago, they found and removed the ordinary kind of synovitis, and I'm already feeling better than I have in quite some time.

Keep us posted, hey?

Hi Everyone,well im back walking and had my final check today after 6months Ankle replacement due to Rheumatoid arthritis and its all worked.I am so pleased.I had phsyio and took things easy,and its not moved and still in place dont have to go back until 6 months time...If anyone has ankle arthritis and gets offered this operation,go for it,its changed my life and iv lost my limp.So pleased i would never be afraid of another replacement on the other foot if i needed it,i had a fantastic surgeon that deals with ankles and feet especially and i must say was a genious.I am 51 next week and i was walking last year like an old lady crouched over and a bad limp,its dissapeared and i am so pleased,will celebrate tonight with a glass of wine,its been a long road but i have got there in the end,if it lasts for 10 years i am so gratefull of getting my life back. tess.