You are right, Rae, that the typical pattern is an injury or surgery that continues to have pain long after it is fully healed. And the pain is greater than would be expected for the injury itself.

There are cases where there is no identifiable origin. The pain just starts. I have been asked by every doctor: "What caused this?" and I have no good answer.

We had a record rainfall and many basements, including mine, had water in them. I needed to take several dozen (maybe hundreds - I wasn't counting) trips up and down the stairs to discard all of my waterlogged possessions. About a week later, my left leg turned purple, swelled up, got hot and went into great pain. You know the rest. That was 23 years ago.

Don't worry too much about the cause. Concentrate on the treatment.

Best wishes,

Mike