What Type of Specialist Should I Find for Daughter's Swollen Ankle (Ongoing)?

I would start at a chiropractor and see if they can help. If her back or hips are out it will cause pain in other areas of the body. Like any other doctors choose one carefully. They also work with orthopedics so if they think it is something they can not fix they will refer you to someone else.
I would be concerned about taking pain killers for such a long time even if they are over the counter. They are all made with different chemicals and can do other damage if taken over long periods of time.

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My brother broke his foot when he was a kid. Despite having x-rays my mother was told it wasn't broken. It was only because he continued to have pain that the x-rays were rechecked by a different doctor and they found a small hairline fracture of the growth bone. My mother was told that if the fracture hadn't of been noticed that my brothers legs would have grown at different rates and one would have been shorter that the other I would highly recommend another set of x-rays taking into consideration your daughters belief that they it was the wrong side of the foot. I also would recommend an orthopedic doctor be the one to read those x-rays.

It doesn't sound like the pediatrician expressed his thought processes when he first looked at it. I know sometimes ours will tell us 'It could be this or this so we will do an x-ray....' If he would have then you might have a better idea as to what might be causing it.

Could you call the pediatrician's office and ask them for a referral to a pediatric orthopedic doctor? There might be a really good one that they recommend.

I have the same problem with swelling. It's called lymphedema. I started having problems with it in my early twenties. Does the swelling get worse as the day goes on? When she wakes up in the morning is it gone or nearly gone but then comes back during the day?

Mine started in my ankle, just felt like I sprained it, but after three weeks the pan didn't go away. One day it became so swollen it looked like some one shoved a baseball into my sock. Eventually the swelling creeped up my leg. I went through a battery of tests and specialist. At one point they had an CAT scan for my leg and abdomen (to rule out blood clots) I doppler on my leg for the same reason, a nerve conduction test (to see if I had nerve damage) and a host of blood test. I saw my primary doctor, a orthopedic specialist and finally a cardiologist. They were afraid that some thing in my circulatory system was wrong and in a way it is.

Basically fluid moves up and down your body all the time. When you have lymphedema the fluid can make it to the limb but sometimes has trouble making it back. There is no cure for lymphedema, but you can make it better. Your daughter will need to reduce the sodium in her diet. This has been key for me to keep the swelling to stay away. Limit her soda intake and increase her water intake. Stay hydrated is really important to someone with lymphedema.

Your daughter is really young so it could be something else but it sounds a lot like what I have to deal with.

If it's just a really bad sprain, it can take up to 6 weeks to heal, longer if she's not taking care of it properly. You can go to an orthopedic doc, but really, if they said it's not broken, it's not broken! BUT... since this sounds like a severe sprain, you should still treat it like a break.

Wrap it properly with an ace bandage; only have her take it off to bathe. Buy a cheap pair of crutches; keep it elevated whenever she's at rest. The main thing is to keep the weight off of it for 2 weeks straight (and if she's been walking on it, she hasn't done this yet).

The muscles and tendons may be tight, which is why she feels like it needs to pop... don't let her do that! Let everything heal itself. As long as she stays off it and doesn't push it, it will heal on it's own, but it takes time. After 2 straight weeks of proper care, it's still going to be sore, because she hasn't used it.

You need to go see an Orthopedic Dr, They specialize in bones and joints.

I would take her to an orthopedist that specializes in feet and ankles. I've had a problem with one of my ankles for over a year now that's similar to what you described. Mine turned out to be tendonitis and I was referred for physical therapy by the orthopedist which helped immensely but has not completely resolved the issue.

My 21 yr old daughter is also having a problem with hers only it turned out that it was a problem with her achilles tendon and it was easily fixed with heel lifts in her shoes.

The orthopedist will do xrays to make sure there are no breaks or deformities in the ankle and will do an examination to try and determine the cause which consists of moving her foot around in different positions to gauge her reaction. If there's not an orthopedist in your area, a podiatrist would be able to help as well.

Orthopod _ i know it sounds funny - but they work in orthepedics and joints.
You could also consider a sports medicine clinic:)

I would go to an Orthopedic Specialist. We have a great set of orthopedic Dr.'s we see for injuies like this.

It very well could be slightly broken and no show up on an xray Or, it could be some ligament damage.

I know you are not in my area but the webiste for our Dr.'s is www.posmc.com. Who knows, you might get some sort of guidance with them since these Dr.s are highly regarded everywhere. They are the Dr.'s on the football field, sporting events etc with most of the high schools and higher around here.

Good luck

Our chiropractor takes care of joint issues. She took 4 years of anatomy/physiology and 4 years of neurology in chiropractic school. She figures everything out, but not all chiropractors, just like any profession, are equivalent in their excellence. ;)

My son's foot and ankle were killing him and we got the same advice from the MDs. Our chiropractor adjusted him, including his pelvis, knee, ankle and foot, since it was all out of alignment and it's all connected. He was good as new when he got off the table.

Your daughter doesn't have an ibuprofen deficiency, so go to someone who knows what is going on. Find a chiropractor who knows how to adjust extremities...maybe a sports chiropractor? Ours isn't technically, but she rocks the extremities.