Complications Related to Chronic Ankle Pain

Chronic ankle pain is a persistent feeling of discomfort that occurs in the ankle and may result from injuries, such as ankle muscle sprain, ankle joint dislocation, and ankle bone fracture. Inflammatory conditions, such as tendon sheath inflammation, that affect the ankle joint, may also lead to chronic ankle pain. Although ankle pain may disappear on its own with time depending on the cause, it is advisable to seek immediate medical attention when the pain persists. Failure to seek medical care in time may worsen ankle pain, resulting in various complications, including injury to the nerves of the affected ankle, infection to the damaged ankle, inflammatory conditions and other painful conditions such as compartment syndrome.

Injury to the Nerves

When the ankle joint sustains injury as a result of fracture or muscle sprain, the peripheral nerves that serve the ankle may get damaged in the process. In some cases, caregivers may focus on treating the fracture or sprain, but fail to address the damaged nerves. When this happens, the pain is likely to persist despite the healing of the fracture or sprain. To determine what exactly causes the pain, the patient may have to visit a doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of the injuries to the nervous system.

Ankle Infection

An infection mostly occurs when the body cells get exposed to infection causes such as bacteria and viruses. When the ankle gets injured in such a way that the ankle bone breaks the skin around the ankle, the ankle gets exposed to infection. Preventing this infection involves using antibiotic prescription medications. Additionally, an infection to the ankle may result from a surgical procedure to correct the ankle damage, where a surgeon leaves some hardware inside the patient’s ankle. In this case, a doctor may recommend a further surgical procedure to remove the hardware. However, not all ankle fractures, especially, those that do not break the skin, result in infection.

Inflammatory Conditions And Other Painful Conditions

One common inflammatory condition that may result from chronic ankle pain is arthritis, which is a condition characterized by joint stiffness, which reduces the joint motion range. This painful condition, which may occur following an ankle injury needs medical attention from a medical specialist that deals with the same. Lev Kalika is one such a specialist who can help you regain ankle pain relief. Besides arthritis, compartment syndrome is another painful condition that may occur when ankle pain persists. It results from muscular pressure accumulation, which typically occurs following a serious injury. The pressure results in the ankle tension by exerting weight on the nerves and blood vessels in the ankle.