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The response to the question below was authored by Marc Mitnick DPM

Left foot pain upon extension

3 to 4 years ago I twisted my ankle while playing a sport. My foot twisted inwards so that my body weight fell upon it...it hurt but I could still walk on it without too much pain. As the day went on, the pain got worse but was still bearable. By the next day a fairly large, hard bone like bump had formed around the ankle. After a week or so, the pain died down even if the bump didn't, so i let it slide. About a year later, I got dragged to a therapist of some sort and the lump did reduce a little: but it was an extremely painful process. I stopped going because my foot wasn't giving me any pain at the time, but the therapy sure was. Fastforward a couple of years later, and my foot's starting to hurt. At first it was sporadic and infrequent: maybe a couple of times a week. It would only happen if I twisted my foot a certain way. Moving forward a couple of months to present day, now it's everyday, whenever my left foot extends too much (pressure is needEd too however... I won't feel anything if I just flex my foot). I used to run up the stairs two at a time and now I walk up them warily. The pain is sharp but not horrible...it's more vexing than anything else... On a scale of 1 to 10, it'd be about a 5 each time. There are rare instances where the pain is

sharp enough that my left knee will collapse, but so far it's only happened twice. The hard lump is still there and hasn't decreased in size in the least since two years ago. Information on anything I could do to make it stop would be appreciated...a lot. Thank you.

RESPONSE

Hi,

Without examining you, it is hard to know exactly what type of trauma you did to yourself. I am assuming you are relatively young and that might account for why there was not much pain early on, but whatever damage you did to your foot and ankle is finally catching up to you.
My best piece of advice, first of all, would be to see a foot specialist. By examination alone, the doctor might be able to determine what structures you damaged and then offer appropriate treatment.
More than likely an MRI would be in order to get a clearer picture of the overall damage you did to your foot.
I do not think you broke a bone for the simple reason, you would have had pain continuously until either the fracture healed or you sought professional treatment.
More than likely you did tendon or ligament damage and in most cases on ankle sprains, it is ligament damage.
So in summing up, in order to get it to stop hurting, you first need an accurate diagnosis and the only way that is going to happen is to see a doctor that specializes in problems of the foot and ankle.

Marc Mitnick DPM
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ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

Mayo Clinic

Johns Hopkins Medicine

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Arthritis Foundation

University of Rochester Medical Center

Harvard Health

Drugs.com

American Academy of Pediatrics

Penn State Medical Center

National Institutes of Health

Columbia University Department of Rehabilitation

ScienceDirect

Stanford Health Care

Illinois Bone and Joint Institute

Mount Sinai Hospital

Institute for Chronic Pain

University of Florida Health

American Family Physician

Cedars-Sinai

University of Maryland Medical Center

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Poland

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anonymous

Dr. Mitnick, Thank you, you were 100% correct. The pain finally brought me to the ER. I spent 8 days in the hospital. The Doppler you spoke of was able to show that there was no pulse in that foot. This was an arterial clot that split and traveled throughout my leg. My leg was almost amputated. I am in rough shape but have all my parts intact!! You certainly know what you are talking about. Thank you for taking the time to answer. Yours Truly!

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Seattle, WA

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New Jersey

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Evansville, IA

Dear Marc

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San Diego, CA

Dr. Mitnick, Just want to say thank you so very much for your quick response and very informative reply! After reading what you had to say, I called the doctor's office and was able to get in and see him the same day as my injury. Toe was x-rayed and luckily, it is not broken or fractured. Very badly bruised and will probably lose the toe nail. And although my toe and toe nail are still very black and blue and very sore, they ARE both starting to feel a little better. So again, thank you! I am so very happy that I came across your website. The service you provide is outstanding and immeasurable!

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Albany, NY

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Whichita, KS

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Boston, MA

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Colorado

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Colorado

Wonderful advice

by: Anonymous

This is the best site for foot problem info.

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location unknown

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North Carolina

Many Thanks Dr Marc!
Thank you for your response. It sounds like a good plan to me. He did not cut the wart out first ...

KG

location unknown

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Bessie Mae

Florida

Dear Dr. Mitnick, Thank you so very much for taking your time to answer my question. You have greatly relieved my anxiety related to the continual tingly I feel in my feet. I will share your response with my podiatrist next week. God bless you for having this question and answer page on your website! Most gratefully,

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New Jersey

Thank you. you were more detailed than what others have told me they finally called from the last xrays and my son is now in a cast for 2 weeks he did have a fracture that was not noticeable.

a mom

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Bellevue, WA

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Jodi

location unknown

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