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Medical Forum / General / General / September 2005unusual stiff ankle problem
hi, i've had some trouble with my left ankle for some years. i can't recall ever spraining badly enough for it to swell up, but i would have gone over on it a few times, and felt a twinge, just messing around with frisbee or whatever. i generally live quite an active life, lots of cycling and swimming and walking, but i am always concsious of the weak left ankle. i'm 25. both ankles seem to have equal range of movement. a few years ago i did do some high-impact landing on ground from 3-6 feet (from power kiting), which didn't help i'm sure. in that same time period i used to play competitive table tennis which is also stressful on ankles. more recently i've noticed after walking a mile or 2 on even road surfaces, the ankle is quite stiff and slightly painful. the stiffness is partly in the ankle and partly in the very lower front shin area. i've been doing some reading up on the internet about ankles, and everyone seems to recommend strengthening exercises like standing on one foot, wobble board etc. i've been doing lots of standing on one foot, and i notice that my lower shin is much more involved in the balance adjustments on my left ankle (the bad one) compared to the right ankle. after a few minutes, the left lower shin and ankle are tired and a bit stiff. i'm not sure what is best to do about it, because all the treatment / therapies i have read about are for a follow up to a grade 2 or 3 sprain. my situation is more of a long-term weak ankle. should i continue carefully strengthening it with the balancing acts, stopping whenever it gets tired? or should i get it checked out in case something more serious is wrong? thanks for any advice tim. > hi, > i've had some trouble with my left ankle for some years. i can't [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > thanks for any advice > tim. Tim, The best thing that you could do is to have a doctor do some scans of that area to see if there are any bones that are the source of the problem. Also, ask your doctor to determine whether or not one of your legs is slightly longer than the other leg. In some cases, special shoes can correct this problem. Jason  SignatureNEWSGROUP SUBSCRIBERS MOTTO We respect those subscribers that ask for advice or provide advice. We do NOT respect the subscribers that enjoy criticizing people. Rubitrubitrubitrubit Hopethathelps Hopethathelpsyoucome hi Jason, many thanks for the reply. i'll check it out at the local hospital. cheers! tim > Tim, > The best thing that you could do is to have a doctor do some scans of that [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > correct this problem. > Jason What is your evidence for recommending "scans of that area" and checking for differential leg length? SignatureDavid Rind drind@caregroup.harvard.edu > > Tim, > > The best thing that you could do is to have a doctor do some scans of that [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > What is your evidence for recommending "scans of that area" and checking > for differential leg length? Scans could detect any damage to any of the bones. If one leg is slightly longer than the other leg--that can cause pains in one of the legs or feet. A person that does lots of running or jogging is more likely to develop problems if one leg is slightly longer than the other leg. SignatureNEWSGROUP SUBSCRIBERS MOTTO We respect those subscribers that ask for advice or provide advice. We do NOT respect the subscribers that enjoy criticizing people. >>>Tim, >>>The best thing that you could do is to have a doctor do some scans of that [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > feet. A person that does lots of running or jogging is more likely to > develop problems if one leg is slightly longer than the other leg. What sorts of scans? Why do you think he has a bony injury? Do you have some evidence that people with differential leg lengths are more likely to develop ankle problems? What is your medical training that makes you feel confident in the advice you are giving? SignatureDavid Rind drind@caregroup.harvard.edu >> Tim, >> The best thing that you could do is to have a doctor do some scans of that [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >What is your evidence for recommending "scans of that area" and checking >for differential leg length? Good old Jason -- just can't stop giving ill-informed medical advice. -- David Wright :: alphabeta at prodigy.net These are my opinions only, but they're almost always correct. "If you can't say something nice, then sit next to me." -- Alice Roosevelt Longworth pls check this information might be helpful for your pain releif http://www.medical-health-dictionary.com/encyclopedia/t/Toe-Foot-and-Ankle-Probl ems-Noninjury.asp SignatureStop Spam :- http://www.spamarrest.com/affl?4001081 Hi David (Ring and Wright), thanks for the clarfication on the original advice. with the public health care system in ireland, i can go to the hospital and get the ankle x-rayed for 40 euros, and spend several hours in waiting rooms. then wait for weeks until the specialist can squeeze me in for a 10 minute appointment. he may end up referring me to a physiotherapist. i wonder is it worth the wait and hastle of going this route? should i just go straight to a physio anyway? on the other hand, if they are just going to refer me to a hospital for x-ray then i might as well go to there first :) i should clarify that there is never any acute pain. just a stiffness and very slight pain that makes me want to stop walking. any advice greatly appreciated. thanks tim > Hi David (Ring and Wright), thanks for the clarfication on the original > advice. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > thanks > tim tim, If it's not acute pain, I doubt if you will need a scan. If the pain does not go away in a couple of weeks--you should consider having a scan at that point in time. Some people in this newsgroup rarely ever give advice but seem to get some sort of thrill out of criticizing those of us that do give advice--so don't worry about those people. You should go to a physio and have that person determine whether one of your legs is longer than the other leg as well as any other therapy that will help you recover. You should ask the physio to explain to you the answers to you questions. Jason SignatureNEWSGROUP SUBSCRIBERS MOTTO We respect those subscribers that ask for advice or provide advice. We do NOT respect the subscribers that enjoy criticizing people. > tim, > If it's not acute pain, I doubt if you will need a scan. If the pain does [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > explain to you the answers to you questions. > Jason If you're referring to me, I give advice when I think it can be helpful. I think it's relatively uncommon to be able to give helpful advice via Usenet for specific medical problems, but that's just me. I get no thrill out of criticizing the advice of others. I worry a lot, though, about someone giving advice who, as far as I can tell, has no medical training or knowledge. The OP asked a question, and when you responded he assumed you knew something more about the issue than he did. He didn't think it was the equivalent of asking his brother-in-law the auto mechanic what the best way might be to deal with a stiff ankle. SignatureDavid Rind drind@caregroup.harvard.edu > > tim, > > If it's not acute pain, I doubt if you will need a scan. If the pain does [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > equivalent of asking his brother-in-law the auto mechanic what the best > way might be to deal with a stiff ankle. David, You may assume that I have no medical training or knowledge. I am not a doctor but did take various courses in college such as biology and spend some time working in a hospital. I have also read various books related to various subjects such as kidney disease and heart disease. Believe it or not, doctors learn much of what they know from medical books written by doctors. I was shocked when someone in this newsgroup did not even know that when one leg is slighly longer than the other leg--that it puts extra stress on one leg and foot. This is especially true when the person jogs or runs. Jason SignatureNEWSGROUP SUBSCRIBERS MOTTO We respect those subscribers that ask for advice or provide advice. We do NOT respect the subscribers that enjoy criticizing people. > David, > You may assume that I have no medical training or knowledge. I am not a [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > or runs. > Jason You are stating as an accepted fact, again, that having one leg slightly longer than the other stresses the ankle (remember the original poster had ankle pain) with running or jogging. Please point to some research showing this to be correct. Lots of people have taken biology courses in college and read books and yet shouldn't be dispensing medical advice. What were the courses you took or the experiences you had working in a hospital that made you feel sufficiently qualified to dispense medical advice about how to evaluate ankle pain? Remember, you suggested the original poster get "scans". Did your courses address how and when to image the ankle? (To be honest, I don't really care so much about formal qualifications. I've been participating in sci.med for about a decade and a half, and in that time there have been many non-physicians here who had sufficient learning, either from training in other areas or just from personal studies, to post extremely knowledgeably on particular topics. David Wright is someone who currently who fits in this category. I see no evidence that Jason fits in this category.) SignatureDavid Rind drind@caregroup.harvard.edu > > David, > > You may assume that I have no medical training or knowledge. I am not a [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > Wright is someone who currently who fits in this category. I see no > evidence that Jason fits in this category.) David, I spent two summers (while in college) working in a camp that was owned by Easter Seal (spelling??). We had several children that had one leg that was about one or two inches longer than the other leg. They had special shoes so they could walk without limping. Those children had all sorts of pains in one of their legs and feet. There was a physical ther. working at the camp. I found out that many people have one leg that is slightly than the other. If you fail to understand what I am stating, I advise you to talk to a physical ther. and ask him or her how having one leg that is longer than the other puts extra stress on one of the legs. Jason SignatureNEWSGROUP SUBSCRIBERS MOTTO We respect those subscribers that ask for advice or provide advice. We do NOT respect the subscribers that enjoy criticizing people. > David, > I spent two summers (while in college) working in a camp that was owned by [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > longer than the other puts extra stress on one of the legs. > Jason What I don't fail to understand is that you are extrapolating from leg pain in children disabled by significant birth defects who are wearing orthopedic shoes and braces to healthy adult runners. Again, rather than suggesting I talk to physical therapists, why don't you point me to some published evidence that slight differences in leg length are a common cause of ankle pain in runners/joggers? SignatureDavid Rind drind@caregroup.harvard.edu >I spent two summers (while in college) working in a camp that was owned by >Easter Seal (spelling??). We had several children that had one leg that [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >the camp. I found out that many people have one leg that is slightly than >the other. Yeah, but people who have one leg that is slightly longer than the other usually also have one leg that is slightly shorter than the other. It averages out. bob >> David, >> You may assume that I have no medical training or knowledge. I am not a [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] >Wright is someone who currently who fits in this category. I see no >evidence that Jason fits in this category.) Why, Dr. Rind, you'll have me blushing. Thanks. Certainly, I have been wrong on occasion, but I do try to acknowledge it when I am. In any event, I hope I at least have enough sense to NOT try to diagnose over the Internet, or to give advice on topics where I have no idea what I'm talking about. Jason promised, a while back, to stop giving medical advice, but it seems he was too weak-willed to keep his promise. -- David Wright :: alphabeta at prodigy.net These are my opinions only, but they're almost always correct. "If you can't say something nice, then sit next to me." -- Alice Roosevelt Longworth >> Hi David (Ring and Wright), thanks for the clarfication on the original >> advice. [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] >but seem to get some sort of thrill out of criticizing those of us that do >give advice--so don't worry about those people. No -- worry about the medically non-qualified people like Jason who like to give advice. If you'd seen some of the ignorant advice he's given in the past, you wouldn't be inclined to listen to him now. >You should go to a physio and have that person determine whether one >of your legs is longer than the other leg A classic ploy of chiropractors. I've yet to see any evidence that this sort of thing is either common, or the source of pain. -- David Wright :: alphabeta at prodigy.net These are my opinions only, but they're almost always correct. "If you can't say something nice, then sit next to me." -- Alice Roosevelt Longworth > Hi David (Ring and Wright), thanks for the clarfication on the original > advice. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > thanks > tim As I wrote in response to Jason elsewhere in this thread, I think it's hard to give good advice via the Net for stuff like this. It's perfectly possible that the right course of action would be to try physical therapy for a couple of months and only undergo further evaluation if that doesn't work. But generally that decision is better made after at least a brief history and physical examination by a doctor. On average, an ankle x-ray won't add much to the early decision, but there might be things found by the examining doctor or aspects of the history that make an x-ray appropriate. In general, I would guess that most people with a history like that described would do well first going to PT, but occasionally that might miss something important -- a quick exam even by a generalist would probably help get to the right management. SignatureDavid Rind drind@caregroup.harvard.edu |
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