What to do about a post-bruise lump?

November 26, 2021 4:54 PM

YANMD. I tripped & fell—spectacularly—leaving me with a large bruise on my lower rear leg (below the calf, above the achilles). Three weeks later the bruise is alllllmost gone, but I can feel a big lump under there, which doesn't feel great when I press on it but is otherwise not causing me any problems. Should I be doing something to break up this scar tissue/inflammation/whatever it is?

I'm asking because I feel like every year I end up in physical therapy for some problem that ends up being inflammation-based, and though this isn't causing me any problems now, I wonder if it will in future? All of the muscles under the bruise/inflammation area are working fine, I'm walking fine, exercising daily, etc. It's just the lump is persisting. Help?

posted by BlahLaLa to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)

I had a similar bump on my forearm after I got a bruise from a car opening a door on me while biking. The doctor I saw had me wrap it with a compressive bandage and it went away pretty quickly (~ a week.)
posted by coldbabyshrimp at 6:42 PM on November 26, 2021

I stupidly once went to a doctor for this kinda thing a few months after i had a massive hematoma on my hip from a bike accident. While the doctor laughed at me for worrying if I had a hip tumor*, he just told me to massage it out gently and gradually. It's primarily dead cell debris that's crystalized into lump form post inflammation and tissue repair. Work it with your fingers and stay hydrated.
It took a month for me to knead the lump on my hip away, so don't be concerned if it persists despite some attention.
*not a thing.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 7:01 PM on November 26, 2021

Blood, inflammation byproducts, ick, need to be reabsorbed and cleaned up, so reasonable actions to increase blood flow make sense. But I would talk to a health care professional(Not me) about any potential for blood clots, because that would be bad. I searched Post Injury Hematoma Lump, and got results.
posted by theora55 at 8:01 PM on November 26, 2021

I had a massive hematoma on my shin after slipping and falling a few years ago. I got it looked at and X-rayed just to be sure, but yeah, it was just a big thick lump of a bruise under the surface. The doctor I saw recommended compression, and I kept it wrapped for some time. It took months to completely fade but didn't cause any problems. (The surface bruise faded way before the lump did.)
posted by wintersweet at 8:08 PM on November 26, 2021

Massage it every day- while you poop is a good time as you’ll be sitting and it’s an easy habit to start.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 9:48 PM on November 26, 2021

Yep haematoma, yep goes away (my exp is only with smaller ones so grateful for other advice here too)
posted by lokta at 4:37 AM on November 27, 2021

Use a quality topical CBD product when you massage. I use Milk Barn Farm's salve (or the oil roller is a lot cheaper per item but there's less of it and it does not smell nearly as nice as the salve). It has helped on all kinds of injury lumps and even my vaccination swelling went down dramatically with it.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:17 PM on November 27, 2021