by Kelly
(Canada)
20+ years ago I had an accident that crushed my ankle & foot, tore the anterior cruciate ligament and severed my achillies tendon.
2 plates and 16 screws were used to reconstruct my foot and fuse the ankle. Surgery to the anterior cruciate ligament has been attempted twice. Recently I have been given a clinical diagnosis of HMSN.
Over the years I have had mild to moderate pain in that ankle. In the last couple of years the pain has been increasing. Now walking for a few minutes causes severe burning pain in the ankle, top of foot and toes and it is beginning to travel up the leg to the knee. Some days just putting pressure on the foot causes horrible pain. Most of the pain subsides as soon as I take the weight off that foot. Over the counter medication no longer alleviates the pain.
Is this type of pain typical many years after this type of injury? Or is my HMSN aggravating my situation?
Hi Kelly,
Any time you fuse a joint, especially an ankle joint, two things occur. One, it changes your gait forcing excessive strain on the muscles of the leg as well as stress on the knee and hip joints. Secondly, a fusion also puts excessive pressure on the foot joints, so after 20 years it is not surprising that you are developing these pains. You really need to be worked up by a doctor to seem if with shoes modification some of the stress of walking can be alleviated.
Marc Mitnick DPM
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