Medical Dopers diagnose this - my doc is stumped too

In My Humble Opinion
1

Three weeks ago I got up from a chair to walk and my left leg had gone to sleep. When I stepped on to it it turned to jelly and I rolled over my ankle as I plummeted to the floor. I ended up with a very badly sprained ankle.

I was off work for a week and followed the usual RICE measures. About 9 days later I was back at work, although my ankle was still heavily strapped, and bumped my shin on a piece of wood. The next day when I woke up my leg was red and hot around the bump and very swollen above the bandage.

Back to the doctor who suspected a DVT but he put me on a course of antibiotics and told me that if it cleared it up in 48 hours that would be the end of it. However it continued and my leg now has a swollen band where the texture is like bread dough, you can make indentations with any pressure at all. An ultrasound revealed no blood clot, the discomfort doesn’t spread any further up my leg, my femoral pulse is fine, no inflamed lymph nodes, the swelling eases if I elevate the leg and worsens if I wlk or sit for long.

I saw the doctor yesterday and he told me to ring him on Monday as he is going to talk to some associates to work out what to do next. Well I thought maybe I have access to smarter associates. What do you think?

2

The initial swelling could have been from the bump you got, but it should have gone down by now. I don’t know what is going on, perhaps the bandage is too tight? IAlso, I once wore a band-aid on my finger that caused it to swell up, and it took over a week for the skin to look normal again. In my case, it was an allergy to either the latex or glue on the bandage.

3

Oops…I should have mentioned that I am not a physician/“medical doper.”

4

I’m not wearing a bandage since the swelling began. No worries about not being a physician, most Dopers aren’t and your bandaid story is somewhat encouraging.

5

9 days later when you bumped your shin, did you break the skin or bleed? You mentioned a bandage, but I’m not sure if you meant a bandage for your twisted ankle or for your shin.

I’m thinking cellulitis or perhaps a coincidental insect bite.