sprained ankle with torn Achilles tendon
by Christine Lohmann
My husband sprained his ankle on Nov. 9, 2008, his family doctor told him to do the RICE treatment and to come back in 2 weeks.He could not step on it al all. At the next visit he was no better and was referred to a DPM surgeon who put him in a soft cast for 2 weeks - which was put on too tightly and had to be partially removed. by next visit no improvement - still swollen, bruised, painful, etc.. whoops - doctor missed the fact that he had torn his Achilles tendon up above his ankle - next stop surgery to repair torn tendon - now in hard cast for 2 1/2 weeks. Hard cast off, surgery looks good, ankle, foot and toes still swollen. Hard cast again for 2 1/2 more weeks, hard cast off, ankle, foot and toes less swollen, most of bruising gone. Transition cast put on but once again foot and toes swelled up like a purple ballon - took cast off after 12 hours and swelling goes down - he has done no weight bearing at all and as long as he keeps his leg elevated his foot looks better, less swelling, purple subsides but as soon as he puts his foot down it starts to swell and turns purple again, also gets very cold. He is on Metanx now for help with what seems to be a nerve injury (doctor is not sure what is going on). Do you have an opinion as to the cause for the swollen, purple and cold foot? It is still throbs and he has some shooting pains in his ankle also. Thank you for any help you can give us with this. Hi Christine, I do not know how old your husband is or his medical history but what concerns me is a cold foot in what I assume is an otherwise healthy male. Read my section on CRPS and if the article in any way sounds like what your husband is experiencing get him to a neurologist immediately. As far as the discoloration goes that seems to be more a venous return problem possibly from a cast that was on too tight. He has problems here and they need to be addressed with more than Metanx, Marc Mitnick DPM
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