My left thumb and right ankle are both toast.
The thumb progresses anytime I use it too much, first it hurts for a while, then gets weak, and then just refuses to do what I want it to anymore. It’s frustrating mainly because there just aren’t many alternatives when picking things up with two hands. I’ve been to the doctor, squeezed balls and used fancy rubber bands but it seems to be something that just isn’t going to go away.
The ankle is simpler, I just lost a bit of the range of motion there and if I tweak it I just need to quit for a while.
Regarding your running, perhaps instead of (or in addition to) a doctor find someone who will look at the way you run and advise you there. Recurrent injury may be a sign that you’re putting pressure on one of your joints either because of the way you balance on your feet or how your feet strike the ground. It takes a while to retrain yourself but could fix the problem permanently. It’s just a guess, but maybe worth a try.
You can also find resources online but it’s hard to run naturally and visualize your stride and figure out what to correct all at once.
Slightly related personal experience… For a few months I’d get a stitch in my side about half the time after about a mile. At first I thought I was just out of shape (true also) so kept trying to get through it, eventually I went to the doctor who basically had me try everything from eliminating dairy to doing situps. None of that worked.
Someone noticed I tied my breathing pattern to my steps and suggested changing that up. Something about your liver bouncing differently on exhales and always having the same foot hit right at the bottom was wearing out the connective tissues and causing the stitch. It sounded far fetched but no worse than two ounces of maalox before a run (the doctor threw me that gem just before I stopped asking him) Whatever the reason, changing my breathing pattern worked out well and fixed the problem.
Form resources from a quick google search:
http://www.runningplanet.com/training/running-form.html
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-267-268-8210-0,00.html