Why does my ankle still hurt a year and a half after treatment?

Hello. I hurt my ankle when i was about 6 years old, and pretty much ignored the pain until my junior year in high school, using ibuprofen for pain control, although it did not work very well. I have pretty constant soreness in my right ankle, although it varies in intensity from day to day. The pain seems to originate in the top right area of the ankle. I went to the pediatrist and he gave me a series of 3 cortizone shots. Each one wore of after a couple of months. He then gave me surgury, because he thought it was instability causing the pain, because over the years my ankle has given out many times. (I'm REALLY double jointed in my ankles, knees, arms and fingers) He put in a bone anchor to shorten the tendon. For a while after the surgery had healed, the pain had gone away, however, there was some nerve damage from the local anesthetic used (Ropivicain....although I probably spelled that wrong) and when it started going away in the area of my ankle all the pain came back. It has now been a year and a half since my surgury. My pain has come back full force and I still have some nerve damage left. Does anyone have any sugestions as to what is actually causing this pain?

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

Well, without a clinical evaluation it would be difficult to determine the cause of your pain. Possibilities that may need to be considered include chronic inflammatory conditions, fractures (non-union, mal-union), neuro-muscular issues, degeneration, connective tissue disorders etc. I would suggest a detailed evaluation by an orthopedician. After a cause(s) I diagnosed, it can be managed accordingly.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!