Surgeons want to do surgery. Stop going to the surgeon. "If you
continue to do what you have always done, you will continute to get the
result you have always got."

See a physical therapist. Look in the yellow pages and find someone who
has a master's degree, preferably, one who advertises "active" therapy,
and one who specializes in foot and ankle.

If there is a university medical school near you with a Rehabilitation
Medicine School, call and ask for a referral of someone very
experienced in diagnosing and rehabing ankle injuries post surgery,
where the surgery didn't work. (Trust me, they've heard this before).

You will get an impartial assessement and be able to decide from there
is you want to take on therapy. But be warned, there is no quick fix
with physical therapy. (Looks like *no* fix with surgery).

Zee

Funny thing.......

A month ago my son had surgery on his left ankle.  He has been on crutches ever
since the surgery and will be on them for at least two more weeks.

This morning he mentioned that his right ankle is beginning to feel weird.  I
will insist that he go to a physical therapist to learn how to use his right
foot in such a way that it will not become troublesome.  

Ora

I have two ideas on this one. As a man of medicine I would always
suggest that you see a doctor. As Zee said take some time away from
surgeons and try the rehabilitative approach. Here is what it sounds
like to me. (This of course is opinion based on words and not
actually seeing you)

There are many possibilities but there are two that jump to mind.

1. Microfibrous tearing - Due to youe persistent L ankle problem, you
are spending a long time compensating on your right foot. This takes
most of your pressure and puts it on your right side.

Example - If you have a 200lb man who undergoes a semi serious Left
Knee Arthroscopy, he will undoubtedly not want to put pressure on his
Left side due to post operative pain. This is not uncommon since most
humans dn't like pain. However the consequence is that now the right
side is taking 75% of the weight or approximately 150lbs of weight.
(these numbers are not accurate, just using them to explain) Now if
this man's right side is typically holding 100lbs, imagine the shock
of consistently holding 150lbs or more. What can end up happening is
a strengthening of muscles due to excess load and a weakening of
cartilage, joints, and ligaments. Muscles now have even more load
because this man has an unknown injury to his right knee and his
supporting muscles have to take over where a weakness.

Now you can have small microscopic tears to the ligaments in right
ankle and may not have known it for a long time. Until that dreadful
fluid which can be acidic in nature cause pain when they leak all
over the already sensitive neural pathways surrounding the damaged
ligament.

2. Ligament tearing - I know this sounds suspiciosly like the previous
possibility but here is the difference. Although not as common, it is
possible to sustain a bigger tear to a ligament and not have it
picked up by MRI technology.

Case in point (unfortunately I love long winded examples...sorry)

A gentleman came into the local ER in my area complaining of non
specific, non traumatic lower back and flank pain. He has an X-ray in
the usual positions which is found to be unremarkable. His MRI shows
only a bluged disc in the L5-S1 region. Typically a bulged disc can
exist in a patient who is completely asymptomatic. The ER diagnosis
is Myofascial pain syndrome and he is placed on an anti-depressant
which the staff hoped would shut down the overactive nerves they
percieved. A week later he returns to the ER with the same symptoms,
although dramatically worse. He is given a follow up MRI which shows
a collapsed L5-S1 disc and is now treated at an out patient rehab
clinic.

The problem with MRI and other imaging technology is that while they
are VERY useful in diagnostics, they are not the end all be all and
alot of doctors think they are.

Again I apologize for making this so lengthy so here is my summary
with suggestions.

Those two possibilities can both be due to over compensation. that is
to say you are constantly using your Right side to take the brunt of
your weight.

I have three suggestions

1. Try rehab as Zee suggested.

2. Try massage. Lymphatic and deep specific massage have been shown to
have incredible healing effects on scar tissue.

3. Try a chiropractor. Believe it or not, some chiropractors are
pioneering foot work in their offices. There are many bones in the
foot and they can be dissaligned. By some manipulation, a
chiropractor can have people walking and dancing again in no time.
Good luck

Any further questions? I would be happy to help

aimangiers@yahoo.com

Well the problem is with a lot of western medicine is that therapy is
usually a first step in orthopedics. A typical ortho consult and
treatment may look like this.

1. Physical Therapy/medicine
2. Aggressive Therapy
3. Surgery

So in a way it seems that the ortho you are seeing went backwards. Now
of course there are exceptions to this "rule." If you go in with a
clear case of knee dislocation with tendon tear then typically
surgery is the first step. Do you have an email account? if so, click
my name for my profile and email me and I might be able to find more
information. Look forward to hearing from you

Excel