What are the symptoms of a torn tendon or ligament in ankle/foot?

Question:

I was in a car accident, the EMT's , the Er Doctor and the family doctor and the orthopedic surgeon have all treated my foot as a sprain, but it's been since 8/14 that i was in the car accident. The swelling has gone down, but as soon as I'm on my feet my foot hurts (like I have a spur or something) and the swelling goes around the back of my ankle and pain travels up the front of my shin and goes to my knee.
I had an M.R.I yesterday, and that takes 3 days for results.
I was wondering if they could still see if there is a tear or could it just be a real bad sprain?

Answers:
Why did your doctor wait so long to send you to the MRI? I am sitting here in a cast for 3 weeks. I have another 3 left before they remove it and then another 3-4 weeks of phys therapy. I fell off a ladder and likewise the er doc and orthopedist thought it was a sprained ankle. After 3 visits to the phys therapist, the swelling was going down but my range of motion was poor. The phys therapist was the one who suspected the Achilles tendon and referred me back to the orth doc, and finally the MRI. This confirmed the tendon was torn and I was given the option of surgery or a cast.

I'm not a doctor, but I would think that a sprain would have been healed by now. From what I understand, if it is the tendon, you need to have it surgically reattached or immobilized, (in a cast,) so it has the opportunity to reattach itself. I would also think that this would show up on the MRI.

My question would be why your doctors waited so long to diagnose this, unless you didn't bring this to their attention. If the MRI doesn't show anything and you're still in pain, you might want to seek another opinion.

If it hurts so bad and if it is giving way/subluxing. I think a real bad sprain is a torn ligament.

the MRI should be helpful in a diagnosis of something that is still going on. some sprains take upwards of 8wks to heal completely. you could be dealing with a couple of different thinks at this point, peroneal tendonitis/rupture or posterior tibial tendonitis. check out a great website with articles and a discussion forum with a doctor if you have further questions. use the source as direct link to site

What are the symptoms of a torn tendon or ligament in ankle/foot?

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