Ankle pain

[salsaqueen99]

Hi there,

I am wondering if anyone can help. I hurt my ankle whilst I was dancing. I'm a latin dancer and I felt the pain after I stopped dancing, so I iced it and hoped that it would calm down. It didn't of course and the next day I was unable to walk very well. I saw my physio two days later and had a quick look on the ultrasound machine and say that the peritoneal tendon was swollen. Yes there is no swelling around my ankle. He ended up taping it and then told me to rest and take some anit inflammatories. It has now been two weeks and my ankle does not feel much better. It is still a little painful to walk on and if I over do it, there is a bit of a burning sensation.

I have been given some exercises to try to strengthen it but I wanted to know how long it would take to heal. Any suggestions of what I could try to help it recover faster, and things to try to stop my ankle from hurting would be greatly appreciated oI am now getting some referred pain at the front of my foot.

Help much appreciated.

[karen.hankey]

Hi,

The first thing we need to know is where on the ankle are you feeling the pain? Did you twist your ankle when you were dancing or had you worn new shoes?

What are the aggravating and easing factors to your problem?

We just need a better overview to be able to make any suggestions

[salsaqueen99]

Hi Karen,

I am feeling pain on the outer side of my ankle near the knuckle. It feels like there is a tendon or ligament there. I don't recall twisting my ankle but I remember after I stopped dancing it hurt quite a bit. I was actually very silly as I was not wearing my dance shoes which normally give me support. I was wearing open toed sling back platform sandals. Stupid I know.

What aggrevates it is if I walk around too much in shoes. I thought I could wear my sneakers but that doesn't really seem to help either and they are quite an expensive pair of shoes. I also have feet which naturally roll inwards. What eases the pain is by icing, elevating my ankle and not over doing anything. A warm bath seems to also help. I have tried taking the voltarin tablet which has not helped at all. I have poor tolerance to nurofen because it upsets my stomach but I am considering taking some straight ibuprofen. What also helps is a sports gel cream which I use and it is a homeopathic formula. The voltarin cream does not ease the pain at all. I also forgot to mention that using a bandage to try to take the strain off my ankle also helped. I can't use tape because I'm allergic to it.


I am getting a little frustrated because it has been almost two weeks since I hurt it. I am considering to go and start swimming which I hope will allow me to keep up my fitness level. Any suggestions will be most helpful. I have been given some exercises by the physio like standing on one leg with my eyes shut and my head tilted back, and an exercise using a rubber band where my I push my feet to the side (is it called dorsi flexion?).

Your help is much appreciated.
Angie

[karen.hankey]

Angie,

It sounds like you have injured your Anterior Talo-Fibular Ligament (ATFL) which lies from the outside ankle bone, downwards and inwards. It resists inversion (turning your foot in) and you generally injury it when you twist your ankle.

Have you twisted your ankle in the past?

Have you actually had any physical treatment from the physio? I would do DTF's on the ligament and peroneals if they ate tender to the touch. The exercises he has given you are the correct ones, but of no use if they are making you worse. Do the exercises hurt to do them?

[ricardo29]

A usefull thing to do is to check your weight bearing dorsiflexion. You can do this by standing in front of a wall with your toes 4-6 inches away from the wall, then bend your knee until it touches the wall. if you can do this without your heel coming off the floor move your foot futher back if you are unable then move you foot closer. You want to see how far you can have your foot from the wall and still touch your knee to the wall. try this on both sides and see if it is the same.

[salsaqueen99]

Hi there,

I haven't twisted my ankle as far as I recall. I have a new physio who I asked to treast my shoulder injury but then I hurt my ankle. He seems very hands off like and so he sent me away with the exercises and did a bit of manipulation stuff to try to free up the muscle. He didn't go near where I hurt it.

I have to say that I have also had that same experience with my shoulder too. I have an unstable shoulder and I feel a lot of the pain in the biceps tendon and no one does work on the biceps, they just avoid it which is where I need it. It was only until I got to the states to see a dance physio who actually worked on the biceps muscle, and then he worked on my spine and pec minor. Quite annoying.

As for the dorsiflexion test. This was the first thing the physio did when I saw him two weeks ago. My left side was tighter than the right and after trying it last night, the left side still remains tighter. I also seem to get a lot of cramps in my calf too at the moment.

[salsaqueen99]

Hi there,

So I've seen my physio and she has diagnosed that I have a tendinopathy of the peroneal tendon and has suggested some acute treatments before I head off to a dance festival for a week.

She mentioned that I may need to see a sports doctor to get a cortisone injection as she believes that the tendinopathy is due to chronic overuse and wearing high heals.

Can anyone suggest any other alternatives before considering cortisone? I know that cortisone can weaken the tendons but I can also see the benefits of it as I have considered a cortisone injection for my shoulder injury.

Advice muchly appreciated.

Angie