WAG What expertise for doctor?

[andarc]

My 11 yr old L7 dd has pain at the top of her talus bone. She does not know how she hurt it. She can walk but it hurts if she runs or lands. Took her to the orthopedic. X-rays and MRI showed nothing. Did PT for 3 weeks with no improvement. Went back to the dr. and he referred us to a lower extremities dr. Waiting on them to call me back to see if he will see her because she is a young. Got me thinking - should I take her to a lower extremities expert or a pediatric sports expert? I feel confident in both of their backgrounds. Thanks.

 

[thefellowsmom]

Not a doctor, can't say anything about medical problems. If you are looking for the next practitioner to try, I might consider a manual therapist.

But since she has clear tests and they don't know, I will just mention our experiences with this and other similar pain situations.

Has she started flipping vaults or other ankle crunchy things. This is the front of the low ankle, right?

Dd and several of her teammates had similar pain when learning flipping vaults. Turned out the pain was referring from tightness in the front of her leg a little further up. This tightness was caused by all the short landings.

This is my favorite book in the whole world and has kept my dd going through all the overuse pains. It's methods also helped me cure a debilitating pain I was having and my mother in law got control of her migraines using it. Can't say enough good things.

http://amzn.to/2q5qnu4

 

[coachmolly]

I would try another PT- look for one with experience in gymnastics (or similar sports) and working with children. Unless the lower extremities doctor is well versed in sports related injuries, I'm not sure they will be much help. But always worth a try.
I broke my talus a few years ago and after 2 orthopedic doctors I went to a foot specialist who typically saw older patients with age-related problems and had no idea what to do with a young person and a sports injury.

 

[andarc]

Not flipping vaults yet. She is terrible at vault! (But has beautiful giants.) anyway, she insists she didn't land short. The PT we went to knows kids and gymnastics so I don't think another PT would be of any benefit. I have thought of trying massage therapy but I just wanted to make sure nothing more serious was going on.

 

[bogwoppit]

Did they do a bone scan? I had a foot fracture for 6 months before they did a bone scan that showed it right up. Nothing showed on xrays or MRI. I would get an orthopedic foot specialist to have a look if you can, it needs more investigation.

I ended up with foot surgery and almost a year later I can start running again.

ETA - I broke it in a bar not running by the way.

 

[andarc]

Did they do a bone scan? I had a foot fracture for 6 months before they did a bone scan that showed it right up. Nothing showed on xrays or MRI. I would get an orthopedic foot specialist to have a look if you can, it needs more investigation.

I ended up with foot surgery and almost a year later I can start running again.

ETA - I broke it in a bar not running by the way.

No bone scan yet. Foot specialist just called. He referred her to pediatrics. Guess I'll give them a call.
No better way to break your foot!

 

[wallinbl]

We have a pediatric sports medicine clinic near here that has a number of specialties within the practice - foot, ankle, knee, hand, elbow, etc. It's a good combination, as they're constantly seeing kids that do sports, and they have the expertise for the details of different body parts. They actually have a good knowledge of gymnastics and what stresses it puts on different injuries doing different skills on different events. Less worry for the parent that the doctor is less knowledgeable in one aspect or the other. There might be one in your area as well.

 

[gymgal]

dd's ortho told us that an MRI is not very good at picking up bone issues, like a fracture. CT usually are better for that if they are trying to confirm the presence or absence of a suspected fracture. Or like another poster noted, a bone scan. Hopefully you get answers from the ped specialist. If not, I would recommend a sports specialist - one with experience with gymnasts, track, running (high impact).

 

[andarc]

dd's ortho told us that an MRI is not very good at picking up bone issues, like a fracture. CT usually are better for that if they are trying to confirm the presence or absence of a suspected fracture. Or like another poster noted, a bone scan. Hopefully you get answers from the ped specialist. If not, I would recommend a sports specialist - one with experience with gymnasts, track, running (high impact).

Thanks. She has an appt next Monday (5/15) with a pediatric sports orthopedic who has experience with runners. I hoping he will order more tests without me having to request them. I heard he was super arrogant and doesn't have the best bedside manner.
My dd is super frustrated that she isn't better yet. Especially since they have finished states and are focusing on new stuff she can't do because of the pain.

 

[andarc]

Thanks for your replies.
She went to the pediatric sports ortho yesterday. He was awesome. After watching her do some things he determined her arch was pronating and to get an x brace. He said if it helped he would order some PT. Ordered the brace from amazon and it should be here tomorrow. Tonight we had the owner tape her arch. I waited around a few minutes and watched her run and jump virtually pain free. I am so excited for her. Will see how she is doing after practice.