Pain in the calf for the past two weeks

[Yoddleman]

I'm writing on behalf of my grandpa who has been suffering from a calf pain condition for the past two weeks. It started when he was in his vacation house with grandma and he was walking a lot up and down a ladder on one day (cause he was trimming the trees) - in the evening on the same day, a feeling of soreness appearead in his left calf. His calf started feeling hard (palpably harder than the other one, like a not-properly-stretched muscle after a run is how I feel it) and pain appeared - from that point onwards, whenever he would sit for a prolonged time, a ripping pain would appear on the calf.

As soon as he walks for a bit, though, it disappears completely. He can go for a walk (even a really long one) with no pain at all. When he moves a bit, he can even stand after that, nor necessarily walk, and it won't come back - it only does when he sits again for some time (it doesn't happen when lying down).

Around a week ago, swelling also appeared and currently there's a 2cm difference in the circumference of the affected calf when compared to the other one. Also, you can feel warmth on the tibia of the affected leg now. On top of that, around two days ago a slight swelling of the ankle appeared. When he wakes up in the morning, though, there's no swelling whatsoever - it all goes away during the night. There's no change in color between the legs.

What may that be? Grandpa tried every anti-inflammatory gel in the book, the ibuprofen ones, the "sports" ones - to no avail. The feeling of tightness is there all the time and the calf is still harder to the touch than the other one. He's also really active for his age, walks a lot and rarely ever has a day when he doesn't go for a few walks.

We went through the Wells score questions to rule out DVT and none of the problems outlined there apply to him. Also, he went to the doctor this morning and got tizanidine 2mg for that along with arnica gel. Is it nothing to worry about, then, or should I seek Doppler ultrasound in some clinic nearby despite the physician not prescribing it?

[mkh9]

I would still get him an ultrasound to rule out the blood clot just in case. The swelling sounds like that. Mine swelled up more quickly but I had an injury. Also, maybe his circulation might be a problem in the veins in that area. So they should check it out
mkh9

[mkh9]

I wanted to add that if it isn't a blood clot he may have either clogged heart values or congestive heart failure. They can do a test to check for clogged valves over night. For congestive heart failure they can give medications to get rid of extra fluids. So seeing a cardiologist might be a good idea just to make sure. Unless the family practice check for these things.
mkh9

[Annie_777]

Did the doctor run d-dimer?