pain in. leg five inches below knee

Twisted my leg on golf swing every thing tried diagnosed as inflamed achilles. It has been six weeks. Only advice from doc was ice and buy 1/2 inch lifts. Went to chiropractor he said ankle muscles leg muscles inflamed. I have been icing faithfully. What can this pain be. Also they did do clot test as I twisted it almost falling to ground. I sat on my behind two weeks before Dr appt. And two more after that as I could not walk w/o pain.they gave me no boot or crutch to help. Is this just a strain or should I worry.

RESPONSE

Hi,

So if I understand this correctly, you injured your leg while swing a golf club that happened over six weeks ago.

The pain that occurred is a few inches below your knee so it is not the achilles tendon but it is the muscle belly of either the gastrocnemius muscle or soleus muscle.

You had an ultrasound done so we know you do not have a blood clot as that could have been one of the causes of your amount of pain.

Six weeks is way too long for a simple calf strain to still be bothering you to the extent that it is. If you were my patient that would have set off an alarm that there is a possibility of more extensive damage.

I am only guessing here but I would be concerned about the possibility of a muscle tear at the origin of the muscle which would be a couple of inches below the knee.

At this point I would think an MRI might be indicated to check for muscle damage.

I do not know if you are male or female, I do not know how old you are but I would think that any swing that caused enough pain to force you to the ground should be taken a little bit more seriously.

Things like R.I.C.E. are fine for simple injuries and for short term use but if a patient is having the kind of pain that you state you are experiencing than at the very least you should have been put on crutches so at least you could get around without being in so much pain.

You may want to consult with another doctor and get a fresh opinion. As I stated earlier I think some additional imaging studies will be needed to determine if there is any soft tissue damage.

You may also want to rule out the possibility of a stress fracture of your tibia which is the lower leg bone. Typically they occur lower in the leg than where your pain is, but you never know.

If these additional imaging studies fail to reveal any other pathology and it is nothing more than a muscle strain, but you are still in a lot of pain, then I would certainly have you go non-weightbearing on crutches. Additionally, you could ask your doctor about sending you for physical therapy which would certainly move this process forward a lot more quickly.

Marc Mitnick DPM
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