Still pain in ankle one year after surgery

I had surgery on my right ankle over a year ago and it still bothers me. Something is also clicking in my foot. It hurts at times and is stiff at times as well. My knee also bothers me especially when I am standing or kneeling for some time. I injured iwhen I accidently kicked a ball over a fence and then climbed the 5 foot fence (a little over my height), and then twisted my body around to avoid my neighbor's garden and landed awkwardly in a hole. I fell and heard a huge pop. My ankle never healed as I had fractured it, also torn ligaments and damaged one of my tendons. This is why I needed surgery because it never healed properly. But it stil bothers me over one year after surgery. Could my knee may have been injured also from that twisting I did? Do you think there is still something wrong in my ankle after that surgery?

I also have clunking in my ankle every way I move it and it has been one year after surgery. I am also still feeling pain in my ankle and even my knee.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Cass

I will give you the same advice on your ankle and knee as I gave you about your wrist and thumb in the last post you made (you are very accident prone arent you?).

Consult your doctor. We cannot diagnose, nor 'guess' about injuries, nor help heal them. The knee is a modified hinge joint- the most complex joint in the body. You will need scans and professional diagnosis.
Good luck.

Try physiotherapy if you have not had any since the surgery.

After a surgery things will never be the same; fact. May be more sensitive, maybe no feeling, but something will always be "not right". Full out pain however is something that should be investigated further with the doctor.

Just to give you an idea. At the time of my ACL surgery a young lady in my office who also tore hers in martial arts had it done as well. She had the graft surgery which is suppose to be the fastest to heal and the least painful. I had the worst which was the Patellar Tendon; though this surgery may hurt more and take longer to heal, would be a better solution and allow me to continue to do what I want. I was healing and the pain bearable and coming along fine; she wasn't. Finally after visiting her doctor and getting more x-rays and MRI, it was found the bolt used was too big. She had to have another surgery to remove that bolt and to put in a new one.

This is what I'm getting at. Maybe it is not the norm and things need to be investigated. No amount of working through it whether on your own or with physio may help.

Hi,

I'm, Karl and am NO MD, nor is anything to be considered more than just my uninformed opinion.

SEE an MD, a GP is good and orthopaedic MD very good,

1.)Ligaments in ankle (any where actually) can only be repaired (as Tendons also) by surgical intervention. I have had severed palmar and some dorsal wrist tendons repaired (dont ask)....I waited 2 years before to allow full healing and proper OT to ensure reduction of scar tissue before fully training....dont ruin your ankle tendon repair and sorry...I,ve shredded the lateral ligaments to both ankles...training the muscles to support is best bet , also flat (like wrestling) shoes with carbon fiber arch support (extra $20-30, at shoe store, those inserts that shoes come with are garbage) will reduce twisting and further damage to ankle.

2.)I AM NOT AN MD, (some would say cant tell arse from appetite)...That popping noise, if it was not the ankle, may have been a torn meniscus of knee, if you were unable to move or bear weight on knee for a while worse...see an Orthopod, A simple range of motion with pressures at angles can differentiate knee issues requiring MINOR arthroscopic surgery from impact arthritis (Dont know enough bout you, but early arthritis, weight bearing or sport related or age, or time in life for a TKR, arthritis and torn meniscus are top on my TOTALLY UNINFORMED OPINION/DIFFERENTIAL Dx)

3.) RICE-rest ice compression elevation and NSAIDS (RICENSAIDS is a lake an uncle bens SCARY mnemonic, after all who wants to eat rice that gives you AIDS???)

4.) SEE AN MD no some mo-ron like me:)


Hope nothing serious and you heal well. maybe just a few months off...SEE A DOCTOR...pretty please or i'll give you a mental wedgie during a group meeting...YES, I can do that...all those years of yoga ya know

Karl. Peace.

Everything heals... whether it heals as well as we think should is another matter altogether.

Operations on the body as just as traumatic as injuries... after all cutting into a body is a form of injury in itself. As skilled as surgeons are with a scalpel they still have to cut through stuff to get to where they need to go. Post-operative treatment is as important, if not more important than the operation itself. You need to a professional physical therapist who specializes in post-operative rehab. Firstly although the operation may have fixed the injury it will not have done anything to deal with the compensation that the body will have put in to protect the initial injury... in my personal experience until the compensation has been removed the injured area cannot full heal and rehab because it still has the 'sticky' plaster of protection.

For example other muscles take over for a fallen comrade and still carry on working once their friend is all better, at least until they're told to stand down. Until then the injured muscle can't fully perform its role in life and will not be given the chance to fully recover and regain its health. Same applies to joints. The trouble is that the handover process needs to be gradual and why physical therapy and supplementary rehab training are essential.

Bottom line... go and see a decent bodyworker!

Hi,

Gavins reply has the extreme merit that I overlooked...knee pain that is simply caused by gait difference in favoring the injured ankle... still if pain is present and health ins. available...no harm in seeing n MD...who you need (probably)to get referral for health ins. to cover rehab..
Thanks Gavin, were I an MD and had chosen dermatology not diagnostics I would see a melanoma where there was a a large freckle:)

Still feel till evaluated IMHO RICE is a good path to follow

Karl. Peace.