Invisible swelling

claircoult

I have a bit of a problem with swelling at the moment. I have reactive arthritis and I get pain and minor swelling above and below my joints. My ankle has been hurting since last weekend and my husband noticed my ankle is swollen just below and behind my ankle bone on the outside of my leg. The inside of my ankle has been puffy for a couple of months, below my knees is also up as is my wrist.

I've been seen by a doctor and a nurse in the past couple of months and they both commented on how my ankle is a little swollen and that I should see my rheumy but when I saw the registrar 4 weeks ago he failed to see any swelling at all and said my joints were fine.

How on earth can I have swelling that is invisible to rheumatologists but can be seen by everyone else?

I'm not sure what to do about it. I'm not due to see the rheumy again any time soon. I'm still waiting on test results that I had done 2 weeks ago. When I've been to the GP before they've been reluctant to do anything because I'm under the rheumy but this swelling can't be doing me any good can it?

Clair

traluvie

Hi Clair..

GPs often prefer rheumy to diagnose meds as it is their field of expertise, but there is no reason why your doctor can't give you something to help with swelling such as diclofenac.. you can use ibruprofen too untill you see gp again..Ice is a good way to reduce swelling too.
Might be good idea to take photos on your phone when swelling is bad, you can then show it to your rheumy next time you see them..
Wish you well , let us know hoe you are getting on..

claircoult

Thanks! I've made an appointment to see one of the GP's at my surgery this morning. Hopefully she will be able to see the swelling and sort something out for me.

Clair

traluvie

Hope it goes well..
Let me know how you get on..x

weejean

Hi Clair

I cant offer much advice for your swollen ankle as I also have this problem and dont really know what to do myself although I find heat quite soothing for the pain. There are times when we go to appointments and come out feeling as if we are no further forward. I have a great GP and hope yours can offer you some help with this. Let me know how you get on this morning with you appointment.

Love
Jean x

claircoult

I saw the doctor, she saw the swelling and she thinks I've damaged a tendon in my ankle, we're not sure how but I used to have a lot of trouble with my achillies tendon when I was a teenager so it could be aggravation of an old injury.

She though ultrasound therapy would help so she referred me to physio. Unfortunately the first available appointment isn't until 1st August and I'm not sure what to do in the meantime. I might try and see if we can afford to go private as there are a couple of physios in town who might be able to help.

mp1952

Hi Clair

I get the same kind of swelling in my left ankle when my RA flares up..

I sleep with two pillows under the foot of the mattress and that helps.

I also use an ice pack on it (bag of frozen peas).

With me, it also causes achilles tendonitis and then spreads to under my heel and causes plantar fasciitis.. so anything that can nip it in the bud is a good idea!!

I had it bad earlier this year and for 7 weeks could barely put my foot on the ground and couldn't get any shoes on as my left ankle/foot was so huge.. the only thing that really sorted it out was going onto an anti-tnf drug (Humira) in April - 2 days after starting this drug I had a normal ankle again and could get my shoes on!!

Marion

claircoult

I went to see the private physio yesterday. He thinks I've sprained my posterior talofibular ligamnet. I have no idea how as I was only pottering about the kitchen at the time. Anyway he did an ultrasound treatment on it, he said it should heal up fine and said to go back if it's no better.