Help Police Officer's 14 Month old injured ankle still bruising & red spots?

It has been 14 months since I had a grade 3 sprain of my right ankle. It was a workers comp claim so now am wondering if I need to go back to my department because of the ongoing problems. There is still bruising and slight swelling around the top right of my ankle. I also have developed red/bruised spots slightly above my ankle injury. I have been to my family physician and a dermatologist for the red/bruised spots. Both have told me that they may be broken blood vessels from the injury. The dermatologist recommended a laser to possibly remove them but with no guarantee. So yes the red/bruised dots suck, but my real problem is with the dull pain and bruising/discoloration in my ankle. My ankle injury occured on April 2010 followed with 2 weeks of therapy in June 2010. Did walking and elliptical until September 2010 when I started to slowly jog on it. It was very painful so I only jogged occasionally. On January 2011 I decided no matter the pain I was going to run again. So I hit the treadmill hard and figured i just had to fight through the severe pain.  It worked the severe pain went away and now it was just a dull ache? I figured I just had to get my ankle stronger and all would return to normal. So it has been 14 month and I still have bruising and dull ache and am tired of it not improving. Is this normal or do I need to go back to my department and get approval to visit my orthopedic?  Please look at the link to see a picture of my ankle. One is also in my profile. Thanks        http://s1089.photobucket.com/albums/i355/jfonz23/        

[Michael L Gross, MD]

the most frequent form of continued ankle pain after a sprain is an Osteochondritis Dissecans of the talus. I would recommend seeing your orthopedist again for a followup xray, and perhaps an MRI. It is also possible that the injured ligaments have not healed as expected. You made need bracing, or even surgical repair.  Definitely the place to start is a visit to your treating physician.