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Is this arthritis or am I just in pain?

Here's a little back story - I suffered a compound fracture of the non-weight bearing bone in my left ankle (I get tib and fib mixed up). On top of this I dislocated the other bone in my ankle ever so slightly along with rupturing a number of ligaments when I was 17. The first orthopedic surgeon I went to never set the dislocation of my ankle and decided to allow the ligaments to repair themselves as they weren't completely torn. Fast forward about six months and one more surgery and I still found myself in pretty much constant severe pain in this ankle, obviously due to the still dislocated bone. I went to a very well respected orthopedic surgeon specializing in ankles. This doctor did a phenomenal job in operating one my leg - I grew an inch on the operating table as the dislocation had caused the broken bone to grown back shorter. Post-op he told me that I had walked through all of the cartilage in my ankle, he said they created scar tissue to try to compensate for this lack of padding. I completed PT as requested and for a time had great relief from the pain in my leg; however, the swelling never went down. Last year I went to college and gradually this pain began to return. The swelling in my ankle is the same as the day my cast was taken off four years ago. Some areas of the ankle are very sensitive to touch, others less so, and even others I have nerve damage in and can't feel at all. I was told by my ortho that i would most definitely have arthritis; however, 21 seems a little young for that. I still have a plate and several screws left in the leg, but I only experience pain in that area when i apply pressure to the plate itself. Everything I've read points to arthritis but I fell like I'm much to you for that, is it possible that I'm just going to be in some form of pain just from the injury itself for the duration? Also, I have absolutely no idea what type of doctor to go to for this. Would it be wise to go to an ortho or a pain specialist? If somebody could help me out you will help bring my life back to where it was and allow me to do the things I love once again.
Thanks,
GEAUX TIGERS
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Avatar universal
I can't say what is causing your pain, buut you should definitely go see a pain specialist.
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