Help me walk again!

<o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com<img src=" http:="" www.physiobob.com="" forum="" images="" smilies="" redface.gif="" border="0" alt="" title="Embarrassment" smilieid="2" class="inlineimg"></o:smarttagtype>Hello I am new to this forum, and am so happy I found it!<o></o>
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From looking around here I can see that there are many experts who kindly give their time by responding to people like me. I am a 20 year old male, in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1>UK</st1></st1:country-region>
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(warning this may be a long read)<o></o>
So where do I start… I have 2 injuries, one to my right knee, and one to my left ankle.<o></o>
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Basically around 6-7 years ago a strange lump started growing under my right knee/ on the inside, it swole up and got bigger.
<o>http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/4382/snc00329.jpg</o>
It gradually started to grow and cause more pain, and we consulted the doctor, he forwarded us to the hospital <o></o>
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They said that it could be a tumour so they would have to have a biopsy.

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After the surgery the samples were sent off and months later, they still didn’t know what it was (but it wasn’t a tumour) so they said it could be a bug or some sort of infection or something, and put me on a course of antibiotics.<o></o>
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Nothing happened and the pain was still their.<o></o>
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Then around a year later (and after many complaints) the doctors decided it would be best for another surgery, to basically cut the lump and scrape out whatever was in their.<o></o>
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After this surgery the lump reduced in size and the pain gradually went down (although never went away)<o></o>
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I decided to buy a knee support and wore it every day for a few years. (I could still walk & run /although not for long, my knee doesn’t flex all the way straight )<o></o>
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The pain gradually got worse, and one day I went to play paintballing, and the next day my knee was very sensitive to pain, by the end of the day I was crawling around in MASSIVE pain. <o></o>
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The doctor told me to rest, and after a few weeks it just got worse.<o>

</o> So I went to a proper phisio (for the first time since I had the injury 6 years ago) and he basically said that my right thigh had lots of muscle wasting, this was because of the surgery and also because of the knee support. He said he couldn’t really do anything until he spoke to the surgeon who operated on my knee and also until my knee got full flexibility. (I cant fully straighten my leg)


http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/4439/snc00335a.jpg



http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/7482/snc00332.jpg


http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/7139/snc00333.jpg
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At this point I ditched the knee support, and at this time I also got my self a full time job – inititally the pain was unbearable at work and I was embarrassed to be walking around like an old man, but after a few weeks of being on my legs daily ---my knee was getting better and the pain went down (keep in mind the doctor told me to rest everyday and not walk) <o>

</o> So for the last few months I have been walking around with a limp with slight pain in my knee, also the limp is their because I cant fully straighten my knee.<o>

</o> For the past month I decided to experiment and put an ankle weight on my right ankle, and also buy a pair of asics kayano 15 (the most expensive gym shoes). and the improvements have been phenomenal.


The pain has reduced LOADS. The flexibility in my knee has improved slightly too. Basically I put on the ankle weight when I wake up, then I go on the treadmill and power walk for a good 15 minutes (the fastest I can go is 5.5kmph) then I keep the ankle weight on all day until I got to bed. Within the last month the pain has gone from around 6/10 to around 2/10 and my limp/posture has improved loads.<o>

</o> So that’s basically the story of the knee
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I am looking for feedback on what you think the problem may be, and how may I improve the injury.
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PS SORRY FOR THE LONG POST<o></o><o>
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Ok so the story of the ankle is..<o></o>
Around 2-3 years ago I was walking on grass and their was a hole in the ground which I didn’t see and I basically sprained my left ankle,<o></o>
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The pain with the ankle was on and off for months, so it didn’t bother me too much, I just cut down on cardio.
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Then as I started weight lifting last year, my ankle got ridiculously bad, and I decided to wear an ankle support. I kept my ankle support on for a good 12-16 months, and its not really gotten any better,<o></o>
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Then around 6 months ago I went to see the phisio and he said that I shouldn’t be wearing my ankle support everyday, as the muscle will get lazy and it will be harder to repair. So I stopped wearing it. The problem is that my ankle hasn’t really gotten any better, infact its gotten worse. I work 3 days a week, and I find that after a hard days work, the pain in my ankle isn’t as bad as when I’ve been resting for a few days.<o></o>
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The pain is around this area( I marked it with red pen to illustrate):<o></o>
<o>http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/6379/snc00348a.jpg</o>
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/7673/snc00349.jpg
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</o> I find that it hurts when I bend my ankle upwards like this.<o></o>
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<o>http://mws.mcallen.isd.tenet.edu/csh...t_06/ankle.gif

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If I sleep and my ankle is stretched down like this, then the pain in the morning is really bad
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/2631/snc00346.jpg
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</o> So I decided to wear an ankle support when im sleeping during the past month to keep my ankle straight during my sleep, and the pain has gone down a bit.<o>

</o> I use a balance board for around 5 minutes in the morning and this helps stretch the muscles around my ankle and helps reduce the pain.

I try to jog in the morning and I find that my foot slaps the floor, lol hard to explain but basically when I try to run the ball of my foot hits the ground hard, and this hurts my ankle, so I don’t do it for long, (I can jog for like 30 seconds to 1 minute at the most)

Like with my other injury im looking for any feedback in terms of what it could be; what might help my injury and so on.<o>

</o> Any feedback is hugely appreciated.<o>

</o> Its my older brothers wedding on august the 7^th, and my goal is to walk into the wedding without a limp.

Hi ,

Let us hope to you fast full recovery,,...with nice walk in the wedding

For ankle:
we need full assessment for whole lower limbs[ mainly hips as you may got Iliac Up Slip as a result of falling in a hole], can you describe yours pain stabbing,burning,aching,dulling...,and to assured that yours pains are muscular inorder to help you as a physiotherapist,have u made an x-rays,your's physician ortho and neuro reports up to dates....

seems you have flat feet(I think),and the ankle pains got chronic as if you feeling your ankle giving way,unstability and unability to walk on uneven surfaces,,as those signs of lateral ankle pain as your case,,

you may would able to do:

lateral heeel wedge
peroneal strenghtening
proprioceptors exercisces
taping
elastic or thermoplastic ankle supports
and may short leg brace..

hope this could help!

Try to consult a proper physiotherapist,diagonsis and treatment via internet is not ideal solution,however it can aid ...

Wow,

If only all case studies were that detailed.

You have already self problem solved much already. Surely you deserve a warranted response.

Whether you have any real underlying issues, or merely postural and muscular balance issues that are related to the types of activities you wish to undergo is difficult to tell without seeing in person. One could easily have postural issues, and not necessarily any pain. The reason being your body adapts to the position it is in. Pain is the result of overload of soft tissues or impingement/irritation of nervous tissues or structures that surround the area of discomfort.

It appears that you are suffering from over use of your limbs post- trauma and long term muscular problems created from wearing splints, suffering un treated injuries, muscle wasting and much more. Surely a case like this requires great deal of examination.

While the make shift self treatment you have created is great, works for you wonderfully, ultimately it is very much necessary to improve the dynamics of the joint (knee) so that it matches and meets the demands of the activities that you wish to perform.

Have you had any investigations such as xray or scan?? You may be suffering from a talar dome injury or osteochondral injury that hasn't been picked up. I'd get an xray/bone scan before going too much further.