What To Expect When You Go To The Doctor’s office With Ankle Pain?
The first step your doctor will take when you come to the emergency room or for a private consultation with ankle pain is talking to you about it. They are trying to create a medical history, which is going to help them determine if this is a severe injury or not. They will also ask you if you have had any previous injuries and what caused them. This is so that they can be aware of the possibility of a new injury or if the damage was previously aggravated. This step is fundamental because it helps doctors rule out many diseases that affect the ankle and can cause the same symptoms.
You will probably have an initial medical assessment, including a thorough physical examination. Your doctor will be looking for signs of injury, like bruising, swelling, or deformity, as well as tenderness and pain on palpation. He may ask you to walk on your injured foot and assess its gait. This is useful in identifying if your injury has caused a problem with your normal walking patterns. He will also want to check the alignment of your bones and examine the muscles and ligaments surrounding the ankle and foot.
In some cases, asking questions and examining your foot is enough to get a medical suspicion, and doctors guide their diagnosis with laboratory tests and imaging tests to confirm their findings. So, you could say this is a three-step process in which every step is important.