Left ankle/foot issue

@amywood20, it sounds as though you have had some minor injuries that over time have lead to your discomfort, based on your conclusion from the MRI revealing some strain and scarring. The orthopedic doctor didn't explain some of these results to you? Is it possible that some of the previous damage is causing issues?

I have dealt with ankle issues, although much different from yours, that led to some of the same symptoms you are experiencing. Mine arose from end-stage arthritis in both of my ankles. The ankle joint itself became deformed from arthritis and damage over a long period of time. Because the joint shape changed and eroded, I also experienced symptoms of what felt like my ligaments 'catching and snapping' from time to time. My ankle would 'lock' sometimes and I would have to 'snap' it loose, extremely painful. I always explained it as feeling my ankle ligaments were wound around a pencil and suddenly snapped loose. Like you said, hard to explain. While our situations are likely much different, I do know the frustration of not even being able to properly put in to words what you are experiencing. Ultimately, I fused my ankle because the arthritis became to much to overcome on a daily basis.

@amywood20, are there certain activities that make it worse for you, or is it just using your ankle while walking and daily tasks that trigger it?

@amywood20 I had a similar thing happen with my foot after horseback riding. We rode a lot of hilly trails , so I had my weight in the stirrups a lot with a one inch wide steel strirrup bar. My foot had an achy tired feeling after, and the next morning when I stepped out of bed barefoot, the ligaments snapped on the outside of my foot and it hurt a lot. I saw the podiatrist thinking it was a stress fracture. It got better over a few weeks, not worse, so that ruled out a fracture. I had some swelling on the top side of my foot. I got custom orthotics and it helped a lot. After 6 weeks, it had healed itself. I do know that the joints in the foot can get stuck and not move properly. My physical therapist does myofascial release to stretch overly tight muscle and fascia which is common. Any overtight muscles pull on the joints and down to your feet and according to a podiatrist it can cause things like hammer toes. Working out the tightness with a physical therapist can get everything moving properly and release the tension. I made other changes too that helped me go horseback riding with out pain. I replaced the narrow stirrup with a wide one that was padded with foam and 4.5 inches wide, and added some hardware that kept the stirrups aimed correctly because the leather fenders from the saddle are twisted to get them oriented correctly, and my ankle was absorbing that tension. A physical therapist can gently pull on the foot to release tension and feel where it is coming from. We do have a discussion on Connect about myofascial release. Leg tension problems can cause hip misalignment which also affects spinal alignment as it's all connected.

Here is the link to our MFR discussion. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/

@jenniferhunter thanks for the reply! Fortunately, the ankle/foot is getting much better! It's taken months but the tingly is minimal and the actual pain seems to be gone. I bought metal tools like the kind they use in gua sha. Obviously I am not trained in it but have had enough ASTYM done on various limps that I have a somewhat good idea how to do scraping. I used the tools on both legs twice a week for several weeks and then scaled down to once a week. Did a little strengthen via physical therapy. I think the combination of the two helped greatly. 🙂

@amywood20 Great! I'm glad you are better. Some things take a long time to heal and will heal if we can stop aggravating the problem area. My podiatrist had described the tingling I got in the ball of my foot as an area that is held like a basket. He made a cutout support for that in the custom orthotics. With orthotics, I don't get the tingles, but I will if I walk barefoot.

@jenniferhunter I forgot to mention the custom orthotics I had made during all of this as well. I suspect they've done some good.

I feel your pain. I have had lateral foot pain too in between ankle and foot for over 2 month. I went to a podiatrist and he said it is tendonitis and he gave me an air cast splint which pushes on that area and didn't really help. He did take xrays though. I then went back and he gave me a cortisone shot and the pain is a bit worse and I am trying PT. I did not have an MRI but I am so sick of the pain and not being able to walk as much. I did not lose any strength in the foot and even tried acupuncture last week. That helped for 2 days only. I am not sure what to do.