Cause of Latest Ankle Pain
For more than a week, I've had severe ankle pain which has left me unable to walk without aid for most of the week. I am now limping around but that pain is still constant. I've had my ankle elevated everyday and I am taking a maximum-allowed dose of an anti-inflammatory medication for the maximum-allowed time. The only side effect thus far is just a bit of drowsiness but that is hardly worth mentioning since I can't do much else anyway.
So, what has caused this severe, disabling pain in my ankle?
I often struggle with terrible, debilitating bone and joint pain so this is more than likely contributing to my current problem with my ankle. Now that the pain in my ankle has waned slightly, there is no doubt that in addition to my ankle pain, I am also struggling with my usual debilitating bone and joint pain. The ankle pain was so severe in the beginning that it masked most other pain in other areas of my body.
These regular bouts of bone and joint pain are very typical for all Systemic Mastocytosis patients and I am no exception. In this case, I truly believe that this typical bone and joint pain is contributing to my ankle pain. The difference here, however, is that this ankle pain is a 10 on the Ten Point Pain Scale whereas my usual bone and joint pain averages closer to a seven or an eight on the same scale.
Yesterday, I decided I was feeling well enough and able to get around well enough again to get a little bit of work accomplished on our new half bath project. I decided to tackle installing insulation in the floor and ceiling. The moment I started working on the floor, I realized that while I was working on the floor while doing plumbing work last week, I was probably crouched and sitting the same as now... with my feet tucked under me, all my weight sitting on top of my ankles which were pressed against the bumpy floor. THIS is what started my ankle pain!
You know that excruciating buzzing, ringing pain you feel when you hit you funny bone in your elbow? That is how my ankle has felt for more than a week now. The pain was a 10 and now we are down to the six-seven but I still have that "funny bone" type of pain. I am now thinking that I must have some sort of nerve damage in my ankle from the way I was sitting on my ankle while working on the plumbing.
So, I've come to a conclusion on the source of my ankle pain but I'm still not sure about how to heal. In time, assuming I don't make my problem worse with more careless body mechanics, I suspect my body will heal itself. These anti-inflammatory medications, although very powerful, don't seem to be helping as quickly as I had thought they would nor will they do anything for healing nerves.
I'll be seeing my primary care physician in a couple of weeks so I know we'll discuss this problem then. In the meantime, I suppose I need to keep favoring that ankle, continue with my high dose anti-inflammatory medication and keep from exasperating my problem with additional Systemic Mastocytosis problems. Avoiding Systemic Mastocytosis problem is a delicate balancing act and, truthfully, one in which I have little control.
What I am getting at here is that I now feel that I actually did "injure" my ankle while working on our drainage plumbing. I also feel that this problem has been exasperated by my usual bone and joint pain caused by Systemic Mastocytosis. Let's hope that after another week of anti-inflammatory medications, I find myself back to "normal"... normal... after about 15 years of Systemic Mastocytosis struggles, I don't even remember "normal"!
So, what has caused this severe, disabling pain in my ankle?
I often struggle with terrible, debilitating bone and joint pain so this is more than likely contributing to my current problem with my ankle. Now that the pain in my ankle has waned slightly, there is no doubt that in addition to my ankle pain, I am also struggling with my usual debilitating bone and joint pain. The ankle pain was so severe in the beginning that it masked most other pain in other areas of my body.
These regular bouts of bone and joint pain are very typical for all Systemic Mastocytosis patients and I am no exception. In this case, I truly believe that this typical bone and joint pain is contributing to my ankle pain. The difference here, however, is that this ankle pain is a 10 on the Ten Point Pain Scale whereas my usual bone and joint pain averages closer to a seven or an eight on the same scale.
Yesterday, I decided I was feeling well enough and able to get around well enough again to get a little bit of work accomplished on our new half bath project. I decided to tackle installing insulation in the floor and ceiling. The moment I started working on the floor, I realized that while I was working on the floor while doing plumbing work last week, I was probably crouched and sitting the same as now... with my feet tucked under me, all my weight sitting on top of my ankles which were pressed against the bumpy floor. THIS is what started my ankle pain!
You know that excruciating buzzing, ringing pain you feel when you hit you funny bone in your elbow? That is how my ankle has felt for more than a week now. The pain was a 10 and now we are down to the six-seven but I still have that "funny bone" type of pain. I am now thinking that I must have some sort of nerve damage in my ankle from the way I was sitting on my ankle while working on the plumbing.
So, I've come to a conclusion on the source of my ankle pain but I'm still not sure about how to heal. In time, assuming I don't make my problem worse with more careless body mechanics, I suspect my body will heal itself. These anti-inflammatory medications, although very powerful, don't seem to be helping as quickly as I had thought they would nor will they do anything for healing nerves.
I'll be seeing my primary care physician in a couple of weeks so I know we'll discuss this problem then. In the meantime, I suppose I need to keep favoring that ankle, continue with my high dose anti-inflammatory medication and keep from exasperating my problem with additional Systemic Mastocytosis problems. Avoiding Systemic Mastocytosis problem is a delicate balancing act and, truthfully, one in which I have little control.
What I am getting at here is that I now feel that I actually did "injure" my ankle while working on our drainage plumbing. I also feel that this problem has been exasperated by my usual bone and joint pain caused by Systemic Mastocytosis. Let's hope that after another week of anti-inflammatory medications, I find myself back to "normal"... normal... after about 15 years of Systemic Mastocytosis struggles, I don't even remember "normal"!
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