Ankle

The inside of my right leg, directly above my ankle, has bothered me for years. Mostly when I run. After about a mile it starts aching, and the pain gets worse from there. I usually stop by mile 3 or 4 because it's bothering me. Then it hurts for a couple days. Then it stops. Then I go on another run. Then it flares up again. But, I keep putting off going to a doctor. Because, you know, doctors. 

Since I've met my out of pocket max with our insurance this year, I figured I better take advantage and deal with all of my possible medical issues. I went to an orthopedic surgeon the other day, explained the situation, and he said:

1) It is likely "compartment syndrome". I had never heard of this. He described it like this. The muscles are like sausage in a casing. Some peoples muscles build up too much pressure when they exercise. The muscle gets too tight in the casing and it causes pain. The only way to fix this is with surgery. They go in and split the casings in the 4 compartments of the lower leg. And then the muscle has room and doesn't continue to hurt from excess pressure. The only way to tell if this is the problem is with a pressure test, given by a sports medicine doctor. He puts needles into the 4 compartments to test the pressures. Then you run on a treadmill in his office. Then he puts the needles in again to retest the pressures. If they are around 20 or higher, you need surgery. I watched the test on some YouTube videos. It seems painful. Not something I want to do immediately. 

2) The other possibility is tendinitis. This would be helped with a brace (pic above), orthotics, and physical therapy. Since I am already starting physical therapy next week anyway (for mastectomy recovery), they can help me with both issues at the same time. I might as well try this first, before having the pressure test. I will exercise with the brace, be diligent with the physical therapy exercises, and see what happens. 

If, by mid July, things aren't improving, I will have the pressure test. If I need surgery, maybe I could swing getting my next mastectomy reconstruction surgery AND the ankle done at the same time! End of August. But hopefully it won't come to that. 

So, headed to the dermatologist tomorrow, to have some spots looked at. And the endocrinologist next week, for hormone regulation issues. I seriously feel like I live in doctor office waiting rooms lately! But, I'm grateful there are awesome people out there who can help me.