Thursday 16 April 2009

Dean Ashton

As most football fans are aware, Dean began this season on fire! He scored 2 goals in 10 minutes on the opening day of the 2008/09 season against Wigan. However, Dean was substituted by mistake when the medical team felt he had a calf strain. This turned out to be nothing more than cramp and the decision to substitute him, in front of Fabio Cappello, meant that Dean missed out on an England call up for the friendly against the Czech Republic.

Dean then suffered a problem during training at West Ham with his left ankle. His ankle suddenly became painful and blocked. Mr Calder, the ankle specialist saw Dean that day and felt it was due to a loose body that was in the joint.

Dean required keyhole surgery on Sept 30th 2008 which was performed by Mr Calder to remove this fragment and at the same time some scar tissue was removed.

Dean progressed well, however, in December he suffered sharp pain in the same ankle while running on the AlterG at Premier Physiotherapy Centre. Unfortunately this pain was caused by another bony prominence which was pinching a tendon when Dean pointed his toes.

World renowned ankle specialist Niek van Dyke, who operated on Christiano Ronaldo last summer, flew to London at Mr Calder's request to operate on Dean. Dean is now in the full swing of rehab and progressing well.