This weekend, Ray Allen announced that he will undergo ankle surgery in the offseason to remove bone spurs from his troubled right ankle.
Allen has had a rough season, missing the last nine regular season games, and the first two post season games so far due to his ankle injuries.
“I know it’s weak, but I still have pain in it,’’ Allen said. “It feels better. If I could, I would get surgery tomorrow. If it was the beginning of the season, I would have surgery.”
Allen had this same surgery in 2007. Many are questioning how effective the same surgery is going to be this time around since it clearly failed to fix the problem 5 years ago.
Dr. Silverman Comments
This is crazy. Allen had ankle arthroscopy surgery in 2007. Since then, he’s been hampered by the same problems he had before the surgery. Now he thinks the same surgery is going to fix the problem? Not likely.
Allen will not fix the problem with only arthroscopic surgery. The problem is ankle instability. With surgery, the bone spurs and loose bodies (little grains of sand) are going to be cleaned out. It’s a start but it’s not nearly enough. If you don’t stop the cause of the spurs and loose pieces of bone they will only form again. How many players have we seen go through the revolving door of ankle arthroscopy without ligament repair?
Why do ankles get spurs? There is one main reason—it’s the body’s own way of trying to stop the ankle from rolling when the joint isn’t stable. Over time the spurs grow bigger and pinch together causing pain, but they aren’t the cause of the problem, just a manifestation.
Related Sources:
Boston.com