Shin bruise

[johnny550]

          Hello.
                  Four weeks ago I was hit in the shin playing softball. and I got a nice bruise in that area. I went to the Doctor after about 3weeks. First off I thought it was improving she said it was just a hemotoma and there wasen't much she could do. The exray's showed no bone break. So right now the area is red with a small lump there, I have been icing it as much as possible. The question I have is, why is this taking so long to heel, and how long can expect for this to give me trouble?

[caregiver222]

Well, the same thing happened to me, and they had to use a gigantic hypodermic syringe to drain the fluid. It almost makes you faint to look at it. I closed my eyes and thought of chocolate malteds. The positive thing is the procedure isn't particularly painful, nor is there pain afterwards. It's just looking at that needle. They will examine the fluid, which takes a while to withdraw.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Thanks for writing to the forum!
Well, four weeks later the hematoma should have healed. You however did the right thing by applying ice. Try to keep the limb raised as s possIf the lump is persisting consult your PCP or a vascular surgeon if possible. It is possible that the fluid collection has got encapsulated and may need drainage. You should also get your blood sugar evaluated both fasting and after food. In people with diabetes, healing is slow.
It is difficult to comment beyond this at this stage without examining the lump. Please discuss this with your doctor and see what he thinks about it. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!