Sprained ankle, peroneal clicking sound

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On 3rd August I sprained my right ankle inwards, by falling off a unicycle and landing with my full weight on my right foot. (I am 52kg, if it matters.) There was no noticeable swelling over the next few days, and it hurt to walk on, but I could continue with normal life. About mid August, I got back to mastering the one wheel.

I rode about once a week, an hour each time. My foot would feel sore for a few days after each ride. But it was getting better, so so I thought. Around mid September, I rode twice in a week, and my foot got really sore the next few days, just from walking around. On September 23rd, I rode again, and again it got sore easily the days after. I decided to take a break. I saw a doctor at my university and was advised to rest for a few weeks.

At this point in time I have full range of motion, and I notice that if I squat (with heels touching the floor), the area around the anterior talofibular ligament and calcaneofibular ligament would feel stiff and slightly painful, like a dull ache. I have no problems doing exercises like drawing the alphabet.

I rested till late October, and thought this time it finally is good enough to start riding again. So I rode for 2 weeks, then the aches came back. I have not been riding since early November.

I have seen a physiotherapist twice in November, and she said that I had tight peroneal muscles. My regular chiropractor (who I see for my back) said there was laxity in the tendons, and agreed about the tight muscles.

I went to the hospital and the orthopedic doctor thinks my ATFL is damaged because it is a little tender. I am scheduled for an MRI in mid January.

If I walk and stand around way too much in a day, my right ankle would feel sore. Last week I followed my mum shopping (bad idea) and the next 2-3 days my right foot ached more, and there was pain at the bony part outside the foot (5th metatarsal?) when I was pushing off with my right foot, which was worse when trying to walk briskly. However this pain is gone now.

In the last few weeks, I've noticed a soft, audible clicking when I am walking. It happens when the left foot is still behind my right foot. I thought it was peroneal subluxation at first. From watching some youtube videos I see that it is dorsiflexing that causes the tendon to snap out of the groove. When I sit in a chair and hold my ankle and plantar flex, I feel what seems to be the brevis tendon sliding against the longus tendon.

I hope I got the technical terms right.


Video of my (normal) left ankle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7rAZYXyq1I

Video of my right ankle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHiHSON3TqQ


Thank you for reading this long post.

[Heidi]

Hi
It sounds like there is more than one damaged structure and so an MRI is the best thing to find out what has really happened. After a ligament injury, tight calf and peroneal muscles are very common and lots of stretching and sports massage acn be used to help loosen them. This is important as tight calf muscles can contribute to so many other injuries.

[LoneReaction]

[QUOTE=Heidi;6019]Hi
It sounds like there is more than one damaged structure and so an MRI is the best thing to find out what has really happened. After a ligament injury, tight calf and peroneal muscles are very common and lots of stretching and sports massage acn be used to help loosen them. This is important as tight calf muscles can contribute to so many other injuries.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for replying! I will post updates after the MRI in a months time. Hopefully my insurance agrees to cover the MRI.. if not I'll be a very poor student!