Long term ankle pain

[welshgirl21]

I am writing on behalf of my boyfriend as we really need some advice with this;

The week before Christmas he had excruciating ankle pain to the point where he was nearly in tears putting his shoe on. We went to the hospital Christmas Eve and the nurse and consultant said it looked like Achilles Tendonitis, they gave him crutches and told him to stay off his foot and gave him a follow up appointment for a fortnight later.

Last week we go to the follow up appointment; his ankle is still swollen and painful at this time and the night before the appointment he was nearly in tears again. The Dr we saw was awful; didn't listen to Rob about the pain, swelling or his foot, told him to take over the counter diclafenac and when Rob said it wasn't strong enough he told him to just take double the dosage, he also took his crutches off him.

It is now nearly a week later and his ankle and foot are still swollen. We are icing, resting and elevating it and taking diclafenac but the swelling just will not go down and it is still painful for him to walk and bend his foot. He has tried to get in with his GP twice and there are no appointments available.

Where do we go from here? His ankle and foot have been swollen for 4/5 weeks now and it's not going down, can someone please advise on what we do from here?

Thanks so much
Sarah

[Heidi]

Hi
He should definately seek professional advice and if getting an appointment with his doctor is that difficult then I would recommend visiting a physio or sports therapist etc.
Was there an incident that started the injury off? You didn't mention anything?
Where is the swelling - quite local or all around the ankle? Has there been any bruising?
Where is it painful to touch?
I don't think it sounds like achilles tendonitis. This doesn't usually cause the ankle itself to swell, just the tendon to appear thicker and red.

[welshgirl21]

There wasn't anything that really started it off - he woke up one morning with ankle pain that progressed to the excruciating level over a few days. The first consultant said it was Achilles Tendonitis after feeling the Achilles and asking him to do certain tests like standing on tip toes (which was excruciating for him).

The swelling is at the back of the foot where the achilles is located and around the inner and outer ankle bones; the best way to describe it is if you look at a normal foot you can see the definition around the ankle bone and the back of the foot but in my boyfriends injured foot there is no definition at all, it's all swelling.

There has been no bruising; the pain at first was on the Achilles, but now it is localised around the ankle bones, mostly inbetween the back of the foot and inner ankle bone area.

[Heidi]

Hi
That level of swelling is definately not consistant with an achilles injury. It is more consistant with a ligament injury (sprain) or even a fracture. But obviously these usually occur as a result of an incident such as twisting the ankle or landing hard on the heel etc.
Is he a runner or anything or what other sports does he play? Running may increase the risk of a stress fracture which develops gradually.
Either way, I would definately advise him to see a professional for a full examination as this is not a common or typical ankle injury.