This past Monday at softball practice a sharply hit ground ball hit my leg about 2 - 3 inches above my right ankle. I semi - walked the pain off but noticed that where the ball hit large egg shaped swelling was occuring. I shook it off and went up for batting practice and had no trouble with my leg. After I finished batting I took the field I noticed that the egg shaped swelling was already going away but the area around the hit was getting really sore. I went home, elevated the leg, and put ice on it. The next day I decided to stay home from work as my leg was still a little tender, swolen, and signifigantly bruised so I kept ice on it for the most part of the day. Wednesday, yesterday, I went to work and neglected to elevate it throughout the day and when I got home I noticed that the joint of my ankle was swolen and the bruise had traveled to the heel of my foot. I haven’t lost any range of motion in my ankle and it doesn’t hurt to walk on the leg but it is VERY tender to the touch around the area where the ball hit my leg. Should I see a doctor about this in case the bone might be cracked or should I just shake it off and let the swelling and bruise heal with time?
if there is a small crack in the bone your doctor won’t be able to do anything about it anyways. small cracks, such as stress fractures, will heal by themselves. It sounds like you have a sever bruise to me. All the blood that built up during swelling…now a lot of it settled in your foot and ankle area. Keep it raised and apply heat.
Well IANAMD, but I have had a pretty good bruise in the same area (500 lb conference room table fell over and hit my leg). If you haven’t had any restriction in the range of motion and you can still walk without pain, chances are pretty good that you haven’t broken anything. If nothing is broken, the Doc really can’t do too much for you and it will heal on its own (and you get to look forward to a nice progression of colors from the bruise, including shades of blue, yellow and brown that you never thought possible from your skin).
If I had your injury and had to pay full retail for an office visit, I’d probably not bother. But, if you have good insurance, a low co-pay and the time to see a doctor you may want to get a real opinion…
I would see a doctor…
My mom hit her leg with a sledge hammer (we have lousy aim) and had a huge swollen bruise on her shin. After a few days the swelling went down and it only hurt to touch it. Then the bruise started to move, slowly pooling near her ankle. She had developed phlebitis (an inflammation of the vein) and was threatened with amputation.
Any time you have a slow healing injury it’s a good idea to see a doctor.
With your symptoms, and if you have decent health coverage, I would definitely recommend a doc visit and x-ray.
But, tho IANAD, I agree with the folk who doubt it is broken. When I broke my ankle, it was a lot more than “tender to the touch.” More like an incredible throbbing that kept you from sleeping…
But, better safe than sorry. I have a history of not seeking medical attention when I probably should have, and the arthritis and aches and pains I am developing is having me question that policy.
I had a similar injury (it was apparently a very small chip near the ankle) and didn’t go to the doctor for 2 weeks, hobbing around in pain but thinking it would go away. Finally I went to the doctor, and they told me I should have gone in sooner. They made me use crutches for (I think) 6 weeks and it would have been a shorter period if I had started sooner.