Pain in foot/ankle

[hemel07]

My dd (11) has been intermittently complaining of pain in her left foot and ankle for a couple of weeks. She has a slightly more prominent bone on the outside of this foot, sometimes this is the painful bit and sometimes over the top or nearer to her ankle. Walking doesn't make it worse, but she dances twice a week and this makes it sore. Ive made her a GP apt for Tuesday but I've stupidly just googled and now I'm worried. Anyone any advice or experience?

get it seen, so it's great that you have an appointment.

don't let the gp fob you off with 'growing pains'. it needs to be investigated, so I would expect an x-ray and possibly blood test.

is the area that hurts swollen or warm to the touch? any redness? fever? any past injury?

No, nothing to see at all. She fractured a bone in her ankle aged 2, was in plaster for 2 weeks. She has very slim, long feet with a high instep.

good luck, feet are funny things. it could be as simple as her wearing the wrong kind of shoes.

Thanks. I hate it when they have something wrong that I can't explain to myself!

Is her foot/ ankle sensitive to touch or heat and cold? Does it feel warm and swollen?
It might just be an rsi with all the dance, or it could be something else. Intermittent pain is difficult to diagnose though, so try and keep a diary of what she is doing day by day and when the pain is worse. Hope the drs can offer some help.

Could be Severs Disease. Not actually a disease at all but what used to be dismissed as growing pains. Treatment usually involves twice daily stretching exercises. Google it.

Thanks everyone. Its not swollen, other than the little bump on the side, which she says isn't really the bit that hurts, its more over the top of her foot. I'm wondering if its because she wore flip flops a lot over the summer and is now wearing slip on shoes for school for the first time. Maybe that along with her high instep?! I don't know. Hopefully the doctor will be able to shed some light.

crmo is also worth looking into.

My daughter had a similar complaint when she was about 6. It got so bad, she could barely put weight on her ankle. I got fobbed off with growing pains but in the end I switched GPs and got a second opinion. After ruling out arthritis with a blood test, she diagnosed flat feet and metatarsalgia and was referred to a consultant at our hospital. She started treatment and physio and had insoles fitted and the pain gradually went away. She started gymnastics too and the training has strengthened her joints incredibly plus she now has an arch to both feet whereas before had none! I would press for a second opinion and mention these two complaints... say you've done your homework and could it possibly be this??

oh yes, when you are not lucky with the gp consider seeing a (private) physio. they have very hands on ways of looking at muscles and bones and alignments that drs with fancy imaging just don't have and could point you in the right direction.

Fab advice from you all. Thanks. I'll report back tomorrow after we've seen the GP.

Saw a lovely dr. He had no explanation but has referred her for an xray tomorrow to rule out any kind of fracture. I really don't think that's the problem but happy to rule it out. If that's clear then he may refer on to orthotics or physio if it continues to bother her. Obviously she has been pain free today!

good hopefully you will hear nothing after the x-ray (no news is good news)
we were called back almost immediately as the x-ray showed something unusual.

xray was clear (although not reported on yet) so I guess will wait and see if it settles down of its own accord. If not will go back and ask for a referral.