OCD is not always in your mind. It could be in your knee, elbow or ankle. And it can certainly be a pain to have. In many cases the injury is missed initially and under treated. What we are talking about is osteochondritis dissecans, also known as osteochondral fracture, defect, or  osteochondral injury. It is an injury to the cartilage and subchondral bone which happens most often in the knee, ankle or elbow. In the athlete, who has had an inversion injury, even a minor one, it happens most often on the lateral (outer) ankle. In some

cases the forces are not large. The injury is staged from a compression or contusion to a fully displaced fragment of varying size. With under treatment it can progress from an early stage to a much worse stage. For simple injuries, Stage 1 especially, the treatment is most often what we’ve mentioned for severe ankle sprains “put a cast (or pneumatic walker) on it”.

More detailed information and classification systems including the Berndt-Harty classification and modifications of that system are in a new article: Dr. Pribut on OCD of the Ankle (Osteochondritis Dissecans and Osteochondral Injuries)