Ankle Pain

[dawo22]

Help, i cant take it anymore, and it has caused me to toss and turn at night! I have had ankle pain now for about 3 months, and i have tried everything i think, My Doctor all he want to presribe is pain med's (Vicodine), and it does take away the throbing at night? Thats the only time there is a problem, when i try and rest, or sitting in a chair,with my legs up, it starts that throbing and it moves up into my lower cafes, But iam fine as soon as i get up and start to walk? HELP,  

[leggiton]

A related discussion, Ankle Pain was started.

[dawo22]

1st thank you for looking at my post. Let me say that i have never had a ankle injury, not even a sprain, Iam a firefighter and iam on my feet alot walking around the station on cement.I have never had a x-ray or MRI of my ankles, although i have torn my ACL twice in my right knee, the last one being in July of 07 and went through PT for 6 weeks. Iam very upset with my GP as he seems to want to precribe pain med's and thats it, Iam really want to see a foot specialist as soon as posible, but not knowing if i need to be refered? As i said before the Vicodin helps and only take it about 1/2 hour before bed, if not it would be A long night. Iam affraid that i have become drug dependent? Iam looking and trying to find a Specialist in the Indianaplois area or closer because iam real worried about this and the pain is bad at night...

[Joyce K Lee, MD]

Dear dawo22,

Thank you for submitting your question.
I will answer your concerns to the best of my abilities, but please be informed that I am unable to offer a diagnosis based on your history and list of symptoms.
I am limited in not having the opportunity to perform a full neurologic examination on you, nor am I able to review the pertinent imaging.
This is solely for educational purposes and should in no way be a substitute for a formal evaluation by a certified physician.


To begin, I sympathize with you for the amount of pain you are having to endure.

To be honest, isolated ankle pain is not something we typically see in our neurology clinics.

The differential diagnosis list for ankle pain is quite extensive.

Let me ask you a couple of questions...
1) Have you injured this ankle?
2) Have you or do you exert a lot of effort on this ankle (e.g. ballet, runner, etc.)
3) Have you had X-rays of the ankle?
4) Do you have skin changes associated with the pain?

And most importantly, have you seen a orthopeadic surgeon?

From what I can gather, you have seen your primary care doctor which is a good start.
Most primary doctors are good at ruling out the really bad major stuff like ankle fractures, tendonitis, etc.
The fact that he prescribed you some Vicodin indicates that he was concerned about your pain level and wanted to help you but doesn't allude to what diagnosis he had in mind.

Either way, if this continues to bother you, seek referral to an orthopeadic surgeon.
Masking the pain with heavy narcotics without knowing the cause of the pain is a bad idea.

If the orthopeadic work-up is unremarkable, then you may want to seek a neurological evaluation.

Thanks,
Hope this helps,
JKL, MD