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Kido 1 hurt her ankle in September. (At the end of the month) So we are going on 2.5 months of pain.

Been to the er, (the day of injury), orthopedist a few days after, orthopedist a few weeks after when it still hurt badly, mri nov 29, and ortho called last week with news that, "you need to come in, surgery is on the table and We need to talk.

Guy we have been seeing is a nurse practitioner. He is good but doesnt do the surgery. We dont know the surgeon. We live in a small town with a small hospital.

I take kid to the big hospital 1.5 hrs away. I know they are the best. Teaching hospital, top med school , etc.

The doc there is ivy league educated. I am thinking hes the best.

Saw him and he suggested three mos of PT and to see him after that. I said Dd is in a lot of pain, does she need crutches, he says if she needs crutches she needs surgery. To take advil… um, yeah, shes doubling advil and tylenol…

Keeps talking about PT… but my kid needs some sort of immediate relief.

The diagnosis is 1 completely torn ligament, 2 partially torn ligaments and an inflamed tendon.

Kiddo is 16 and very smart and is away at school. Her dorm is on the 3rd floor. So i am not with her every day to make sure she is elevating and rice and all that stuff.

Are we right to think ivy league dr is not doing enough? We want surgery for this to be over, but maybe we are just non docs who don’t understand how hard surgery will be?

I just cant see her suffering for another 3 mos.

Physician here (OB). I do surgery, too, just not on joints.

Rarely does surgery completely resolve pain. It might improve function, but that’s not the same goal as fixing pain.

Get a second opinion. Go to a bigger center. Second opinions are always good.

Surgeons get paid to do surgery, not to tell you not to do surgery. Try seeing a physical therapist also. PT is not rest. Maybe rest is making it worse? Ask.

Joints are almost never 100% back to normal after surgery. Sometimes surgery makes it worse.

[This message edited by 3yrsout at 10:13 PM, Tuesday, December 7th]

Also med school is not the same as where they did residency. Ivy League docs frequently have less hands on experience because the patients want the attending, not the learning resident.

Speak to one more specialist.

Ask what the grades of the torn ligaments. Some may actually heal on their own but some do require surgical assistance.

But once your daughter has seen the last MD, you and her need to make the choice of surgery or not.

You could be looking at months of recovery either way. And the pain may never go away but hopfully with the torn ligament repaired it will help ease her pain.

ANY TIME you have a kid that someone is recommending some invasive treatment you absolutely should get a second opinion.
Ivy League education doesn't impress me. What impresses me is a physician that is willing to take the time to explain what the situation is, what surgery would do vs what therapy would do, and when you can expect to see changes, and what the risks are for both.

That said the fact that the surgeon wasn't anxious to take her to surgery straight away is a sign of a decent Dr, but I would also recommend getting a second opinion.

PT can do lots of stuff that helps with pain and promotes healing other than just exercise, and I think this is a big piece that a lot of people miss when a Dr recommends therapy. they can do ultrasound, massage, tens, and promote blood flow and healing. One of the issues with tendons and ligaments healing is that they have low blood flow unlike muscles, so the recovery time is always long, and with tendons they are basically bundles of stuff that have little stretch, so once you have something injured (tendonitis) that when you feel that pain again and again it reinjuring what is healing. I had a tendonitis that messed with for over 6 months. Finally saw a Dr and they injected it immobilized it, and 10 days later it was 75% better.
I also had a shoulder that I had injured severely, was convinced I may need surgery. Messed with it for months. Finally went to PT, within a month of visits 2 times a week, she had me fixed. I had a nerve that was impinged and it took silly exercises that felt like nothing, followed by massage, ultrasound and tens to release it.

So that said if you think you should get another opinion then do it.
Be strict on her activity elevate and ice in the evening, you may even be good with getting her a ice machine where it pumps very ice cold water through a sleeve that can be worn on the area, we use these in joint replacement surgery, and they are awesome. I would find out if a boot is needed as well. I would also make sure that the person you see does kids too, if your daughter is done growing it's not as big of deal, but if her growth plates aren't closed then you may need to consider a pediatric foot/ankle guy.

I'm three weeks out from a badly sprained ankle, and my air boot is life. I would definitely find out if it's appropriate for her type of injury.

BSR a bad sprain can be worse than a break.
I did it when my kids were in 2nd and 4th grade. I missed a week of work and probably should have missed 2. It sucked and was swollen for more than 6 mos.

bad sprain can be worse than a break

Thats what they said when we were happy it wasnt broken.

The injury occurred Sept 29, so she (and I) are ready to STOP HURTING.

2 mos of pain, we just want to be able for her to walk… we arent talking running or sports… just… walk.