What the hell did I do?

[Yuurei]

I have a lot of inexplicable injuries from a rare Hipster disease ( you've probably never heard of it.) but this is a new one.
Typically I wouldn't ask a random crowd but I don't know what else to do. My insurance wont cover any diagnostics without first going to PT but I've gone far beyond my allotted number of sessions. ( Makes so much sense right?)

I seem to have some inexplicable nerve damage in my left ankle-in a vertical line between my ankle bone and Achilles tendon.
It isn't constant, I only feel it when I stretch my heel inward. It feels just like tearing clear through the muscle; a severe sharp, stabbing-burning sensation.

Since I'm an idiot my solution to every possible injury is just to stretch it harder. ( You'd be amazed how often that works) That seemed to help and after a few days the pain had mostly subsided. After a while it returned. This time it felt distinctly like tearing open a recently healed wound, stuck together with dried blood.

The skin over the affected area has become completely numb to the touch, as if the nerves are just dead.
I cannot think of anything I could have done to cause this. I just woke up one day, stretched out my ankle and there it was.

Has anyone heard of this sort of thing? If it's just going to hurt and be numb like this I can deal with that. I would just like to know if it's something that could cause more damage over time.

 

[Lexicon]

I have a lot of inexplicable injuries from a rare Hipster disease ( you've probably never heard of it.) but this is a new one.
Typically I wouldn't ask a random crowd but I don't know what else to do. My insurance wont cover any diagnostics without first going to PT but I've gone far beyond my allotted number of sessions. ( Makes so much sense right?)

I seem to have some inexplicable nerve damage in my left ankle-in a vertical line between my ankle bone and Achilles tendon.
It isn't constant, I only feel it when I stretch my heel inward. It feels just like tearing clear through the muscle; a severe sharp, stabbing-burning sensation.

Since I'm an idiot my solution to every possible injury is just to stretch it harder. ( You'd be amazed how often that works) That seemed to help and after a few days the pain had mostly subsided. After a while it returned. This time it felt distinctly like tearing open a recently healed wound, stuck together with dried blood.

The skin over the affected area has become completely numb to the touch, as if the nerves are just dead.
I cannot think of anything I could have done to cause this. I just woke up one day, stretched out my ankle and there it was.

Has anyone heard of this sort of thing? If it's just going to hurt and be numb like this I can deal with that. I would just like to know if it's something that could cause more damage over time.

I'm not a medical professional, nor do I work in that field at all, but I think anyone who might be on here would be hard pressed to guess without knowing the name of whatever underlying disease you have/general medical background, as those can be contributing factors to what's happening with your foot.

It could possibly be early signs of peripheral neuropathy, if I had to make a stab in the dark. The causes for that issue are myriad, though. Or maybe a pinched nerve of some sort, even if you don't recall doing anything specific to injure your foot, or anywhere else. MRI is likely needed to rule out soft tissue damage. IME, insurance often requires an X-Ray prior to getting the MRI, despite the fact that it may be inconclusive, since its ability to illuminate soft tissue damage is very limited.


Explain your symptoms to your doctor, or switch primary care physicians, if you can. Inform them of the limitations your insurance has in place - often all you need is a letter of medical necessity from your primary for further evaluation or procedures that insurance are reluctant to cover otherwise. You have to be your own advocate, sometimes, to get to the bottom of things. Have your insurance's fax info on hand at the appointment. Request a referral to a neurologist. Repeatedly. Don't try to treat yourself or keep asking people who aren't medical. It could be (& hopefully is) some sort of temporary issue - but if it's something more insidious/progressive, it's ill-advised to just wait it out.

Good luck.

 

[Kas]

So it's at least a couple of days now?

We can't help you much online. I wouldn't put pressure on the leg and would contact a doctor soon. Isn't there an emergency way to do so?
Outside of your medical history the injury that happens without any reason (accident, sport etc) is always strange, so it's better to check this up.