Monday morning I injured the back of my leg in a fall, about 1/3rd the way up from the ankle. There was some immediate swelling, but not much bruising. I didn’t hear a popping noise, it was a direct blow to the leg.
On Tuesday morning I went to the dr., who after a physical exam said he thought I bruised my achilles tendon, but didn’t tear or crush it. He gave me a script for vicodin and sent me on my way, saying to call him if it didn’t get better after a while, and he’d order an MRI.
Two and a half days later, I still cannot move my foot up and down or side to side more than an inch. No matter how hard I contract my muscles, it just doesn’t move. I can wiggle my toes now, which I couldn’t do before.
Would any doctors or PT’s out there consider this normal? I am starting to freak out, since I would assume if it was torn it would be super bruised or swollen, but what I read on the Internet says that isn’t necessarily the case. Since I can move my foot at all, is that a good sign, where I just need to be patient?
If you can see a specialist . I say this out of experience . I tore my achillies in my lower left leg last christmas. i herd a distinct tearing sound but it was not really swollen at all . I had ruptured it almost all the way thru . Don’t take a chance , see a specialist .
I would agree that getting to a specialist is the best thing to do. In the mean time rather then forcing your foot to get moving this is the time to let it rest. Keep it iced and elevated. This should help bring down the swelling. And though you may be poping those Vike’s like they are Tic Tacs and feeling no pain, remember that you are still injured and putting pressure on it is slowing your recovery. So plant your butt on a couch, stick that foot in the air, and toss some ice on it till you can see a specialist.
[quote]Brad407 wrote:
If you can see a specialist . I say this out of experience . I tore my achillies in my lower left leg last christmas. [/quote]
Just curious, when you tore yours, were you able to move your foot side to side and up and down, or did it just dangle like a limp… piece of spaghetti?
The Achilles tendon only attaches the muscles that plantarflex the foot. If you tore it, that should be the only movement that would be most affected. However, pain and swelling could definitely cause motion restriction.
How much swelling is present?
Are you able to bear weight on it?
What was the mechanism of injury and how much force was involved?
[quote]Dr. Ryan wrote:
How much swelling is present?
[/quote]
The back of my leg is slightly swollen and black and blue. Yesterday was the first day I couldn’t elevate my leg at work, and when I got hom, the whole thing swelled up like a balloon.
A little, but when I do, it feels like the back of my legs is cramped up, like a charley horse. When I take the weight off, that sensation subsides.
Don’t laugh… this will be hard to explain, so bear with me.
I was loading up our pontoon boat with gear. I stepped over a 5 gallon gas can as I placed a cooler on the boat, other side of the can. When I stepped back over the can and put my right foot down on the dock, my right (not hurt) ankle rolled in my sandals.
My right foot slid down into the water between the boat and dock. My left (hurt) leg flew up in the air, and dropped forcefully onto the rope that moored the boat to the dock.
My initial reaction as I tried to pull myself out of the water was that I had broken my leg. After a few minutes lying on the dock I was able to hop to shore, where I laid in the grass for quite some time.
Nope, when I saw him first thing Tuesday morning he said he’d do an MRI on Friday if things hadn’t improved. Its almost 72 hours later, and everything still hurts like hell, including the top of my ankle now.
The x-rays all came back negative. The doctor said to be a patient patient, which made me want to slug him.
Still very little mobility, tons of pain when I don’t take the vicodin regularly. Swelling is getting worse, and now my foot and toes are tingly on a regular basis, as well as the back of my leg hurting from the calf down to my heel.