Peroneal Tendon Problems

crawling52

I am new to this site and have never written on a message board before. Because I have been in so much pain and am frustrated about my left ankle i thought it might help to write about it. Please forgive me but this will be a rather long post.

It all started last August while I was doing a lot of hiking getting ready for my family trip to Yellowstone. My left ankle started to ache so i wrapped up with an ace bandage and continued hiking. It got worse while I was at Yellowstone so i cut down on the mileage and kept going because it was a once in alife time trip for me.

I went to my primary care physician in September. She referred me to an orthopedist, which I saw in early October. He said I had peroneal tendonitis and prescribed physical therapy for 4-6 weeks. This seemed to help for a while but I tried to take a short hike and I ended up limping the next day. He finally gave me an MRI after I insisted on December 5th. It showed moderate inflammation of the peroneal tendons but no tears. I was given a lace-up ankle brace and prescribed a Flector Patch for pain. These patches just upset my stomache and did nothing for the pain.

I started to feel a little better so I went on two 2-3 mile hikes on Jan. 11 and 18th. This made the pain worse. I went back to the orthopedist on Jan 29th. He recommended a cortizone injection into the tendon sheeth, which was preformed by his assistant while he was out of the room.

Feb. 2nd I felt worse than I did before the injection. I decided to see a podiatrist, which I saw on Feb 5th. She took x-rays and examined my ankle. I was given a stiffer brace to wear with a shoe and some night splints to use one hour a day for both ankles. Then she gave me 2 cortizone injections into my ankle joint and wrapped up my ankle in a soft cast like material and an ace bandage.

The night splints made the pain worse so I stopped wearing them. I saw the podiatrist on Feb. 17th. She gave me two more cortizone injections, wrapped my ankle and told me to discontinue wearing the night splints.

I decided to baby my ankle. So I used crutches or a cane for that week. It was feeling quite a bit better. I saw the podiatrist on Feb 24th. She told me to walk around normally with the ankle brace on. then she wrapped up my ankle again.

Feb 28th I started to feel much worse. Pain level was about a 8-9. My peroneal tendon appeared to be dislocated. Then It seemed to go back in place on Mar. 2nd and then back out again on the 3rd. I saw the podiatrist on Mar 6th. I was given a CAM walker boot and she wrapped up my ankle to the knee. I asked if she could push the tendon back in place but she said that could only be done with surgery. She told me to use crutches to be non-weight bearing.

Pain level was down to a 7 but my ankle was swelling up and I was experienceing numbness going down into the bottom of my foot. I saw the podiatrist on March 12th. She didn't seem to believe me when I told her that I hadn't put any weight on my foot. She wasn't convinced that my tendon was subluxed, because of the swelling she thought it looked like the other one. She prescribed physical therapy for 4-6 weeks and a cream for the numbness. She wrapped up my ankle again to the knee even though I thought that would make it swell.

I went to 2 physical therapy sessions on March 12th and March 16th. I didn't seem to help I even thought it made it worse. After doing research on internet I decided to see a orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon. I have an appointment on the 30th.

My current condition is my foot swells when I don't keep it elevated. I am either in so much pain I can't sleep or my foot feels numb. I hope to get a solution to my problem on the 30th. I am afraid it will mean surgery but I can't live like this any longer. I have been reduced to using crutches, crawling or using my rolling desk chair around the house.