Achilles Tendonitis

[elicia]

the week before christmas i went shopping with my two teenagers in a pair of flat shoes, granted they weren't the best of shoes but they weren't the worst either but when i got home after that long day of shopping i noticed when i got into bed that night that when i ran my right foot down my left inside ankle it hurt. at first i thought it was a bruise or something but as days past i suspected it might be a bug bite as it was swelling. as time went on and it continued to swell and hurt i realized it was neither. I did not twist it, did not sprain it but it hurt to touch just below the ankle bone and would swell more every time i walked on it and was sore and painful. hobbling became my way to walk very quickly. finally 2 weeks ago i went to my family doctor, he had no clue(no big surprise,he's not overly great as a doctor) but he did send me for xrays. the xrays showed no breakage or hairline fractures so he said it was probably just a bad sprain. rest, relax and wrap it. try and stay off it all i can. but in short he didn't know why it was swelling. on monday i went to the ER, they basically told me the same. it was not a sprain, not twisted, not fractured, they took blood and it was not gout, not blood pressure related, not a blood clot, not fluid build up, most likely he said a torn ligament but in order to know for sure i would have to go to a orthopedic specialist and have a MRI done. I explained we do not have insurance and can't really afford the orthopedic doctor but he just tossed up his hands and said well if you want it fixed, that's all i can tell you, otherwise i don't know why it's swelling. and he said if i went the orthopedic doctor would probably wrap it, and put it in a boot for about 6 weeks. Now I do have a boot that i had when i broke my other ankle last year and i can wrap it on my own and i have been soaking it daily and trying very hard not to get on it no more than i have to but i was just curious has anyone else had this happen to them? this kind of injury? does this sound to anyone like a torn ligament and if so can it be treated like i'm doing myself with the boot and wrapping at home without going to the orthopedic specialist and giving him $160 and having the hugely expensive mRI done as well so he can say yea, it's a torn ligament. if indeed that is what it is? or am i just dealing with a ordinary bad sprain that i'm just not giving time to heal? the ankle when wrapped gets more weak than when it's not wrapped. if i walk on it not wrapped which i have before i went to the ER, it isn't sore but it swells tremendously and is sore to the touch, not to walk on so much however. When i wrap it however and then try and walk on it unwrapped, it's almost impossible so the wrap does make it weaker and i come to rely on it. maybe that's a good thing and maybe then it will heal if i just leave it wrapped for a good 4-6 weeks and use that boot everytime i go out of the house. any suggestions are greatly appreciated by anyone. Like i said it swells, and is red just below the ankle bone toward the bottom of my foot. it is also sore across the ankle bone but according to 3 doctors that looked at it, there is no breakage or fracture.
Thanks for any input!

[tulch001]

The good news is that the x-rays ruled out a fracture. Is it possible that you sprained your ankle? While many ankle sprains occur from missteps on uneven walking surfaces, some sprains occur when your foot is planted firmly on the ground and your body twists in a way that puts pressure or stress on the ankle joint.

It seems unlikely that you sprained your ankle without knowing it. However, some of your symptoms – soreness, swelling, redness or bruising at the site of the injury – are typical of sprains. Why not treat your ankle as though you sprained it? However, rather than taping your foot which allows no movement, try an aircast. An aircast permits up-and-down movement of the foot while protecting the ankle from twisting. It also provides compression to reduce swelling, as well as support while the sprain heals. Also, try to keep your ankle elevated to reduce swelling when you sit or rest.

After a period of rest, you can begin gentle ankle exercises – for example, spelling out the alphabet with your big toe in a warm bath. If you still see no progress after 2-3 weeks, it may be time to consult an orthopedic specialist.

Good luck.
-ST.

[footproddoc]

It appears that you have a tendonities due to a reppetitive overuse type syndrome. Your foot may abnormally pronate and that is why you injuried your foot/ ankle. THE TENDONS THAT CROSS THE ANKLE JOINT ARE THE ONES MOST AFFFECTED. That can be treated by injection therapy, electrical stimulation and ice therapy. You seem like you are a good candidate to get orthotics.

[elicia]

a MRI of my foot had finally revealed that i have tendonitis and tunnel syndrome on one side as well as a complete tear of the ligament on the other side which surprised even the doctor considering i had no pain on the other side of my foot but the recommendation is to wear the big bulky boot now for 6 weeks at least to let the ligament heal. after that they will reevaluate it's progress and i go back for a check up in 4 weeks to check the progess as well. Hopefully this boot will help. I know with the swelling going down it hurts more now than it did but at least now i have a good idea what was wrong with my foot. My concern now is how to prevent this from happening again. The only thing i did to cause this to begin with was go shopping all day with my daughters. Granted bad shoes didn't help but i didn't expect to cause this much damage to my foot in the process. I'm curious what will happen after i get out of the boot and if there will be need for follow up to the tunnel syndrome or the tendonitis or how the ligament heals on it's own.
elicia