Should I see a doctor about this ?

[Fear The Spear]

I ended up with a huge bruise on the back of my thigh. And the last time I had something that was this large and the appearance of a bruise, I literally had a torn muscle (in my calf). So, I'm not sure if this is that serious, or not.
I actually am not sure how it happened. All I know is it's huge, ugly, and it hurts. And I know when it started.

It all started when I recently went kayaking for the first time.
While I was rowing, I noticed that my feet started to become numb after a very short time. You know that tingling feeling you get in a limb, where you lose feeling, or it "falls asleep". I could not understand what was causing the numbness, because as far as I could tell, I was not restricting blood-flow to my feet. But it was my first time kayaking, so it was my first time sitting in that manner, so I thought, "who knows what's goin on ".

Eventually the numbness in the feet went away. But shortly after I was done kayaking, I felt a severe pain in the back of my thigh. And I looked at it, and there was this bruise bigger than the width of a softball. Couldn't understand how it happened. I don't remember slamming my leg against anything. All I could think of is, maybe the way I was sitting, was pinching a part of my leg, which may have been the cause of both the foot sensation and the thigh symptom.

I took a picture of it and posted below. The bruise goes up the back of my left thigh up to the bottom of the buttock. And I cropped the picture there, so as not to post anything indecent on here.

But does anyone know what the diagnosis on this might be, how serious it is - whether I should see a doctor, or just let it go away by itself, and just take Ibuprofen ?

Thanks

 

[Nobody]

With stuff like that, it's always best to go get checked out instead of taking a wait and see approach. On one hand, it could be as simple as a bad bruise. On the other hand, because of the location, it could have caused deep vein thrombosis. It's likely just a bruise, but since you said your legs went numb, and now this, it's worth getting checked out.

 

[Fear The Spear]

Yea, and I have a really super hot female doctor, so it'll give me a good excuse to go see her Thanks

 

[Nobody]

Yea, and I have a really super hot female doctor, so it'll give me a good excuse to go see her Thanks

Sweet. My doctor is a dead ringer for Olivia Wilde, with a better body. The whole first year I was going to her she thought I was accident prone. Then she figured me out and teased me about it. The jig is up, but I still go at the first sign of a sniffle or pain

 

[Fear The Spear]

Then she figured me out and teased me about it.

So, what kind of comment did she make about it ?

Like, "I believe I know why you continually request checkups on your prostate and your hernia several times a month, even though I've assured you there's nothing wrong up there" LOL

 

[Boone]

With stuff like that, it's always best to go get checked out instead of taking a wait and see approach. On one hand, it could be as simple as a bad bruise. On the other hand, because of the location, it could have caused deep vein thrombosis. It's likely just a bruise, but since you said your legs went numb, and now this, it's worth getting checked out.

That's good advice. And I wouldn't screw around - get seen.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Compartment syndrome!

 

[Nobody]

Compartment syndrome!

Thanks for reminding me of the Jason Taylor fiasco, I had completely erased it from my memory lol.

 

[Nobody]

I am trying to work thru a pulled muscle in my back by going to the gym and just "taking it easy".

Those are the worst, and they can recur and linger for years. Just hope beyond hope you don't have a really hard sneeze, you'll wanna die.

 

[Fear The Spear]

For you guys that believe it may be safe to wait a while to see if it goes away on it's own, how long do you think I should I give it, before I resort to the doctor ?

 

[Boone]

I'd get checked out. It's not likely it's a dvt, but if it were, that's a disaster waiting to happen (even life-threatening). Not trying to scare you, but you should probably get checked out.

 

[Nobody]

I'm in the same boat as Mike. I usually wait, and more than half the time I regret it. It's a guy thing I think. I've waited out bronchitis until it turned into pneumonia on more than one occasion.

It's foolish to wait though, especially if it concerned you enough to ask about it. It's better to go and hope you wasted your time on something minor, than have it turn out to be serious and regret not going when it could have saved you a lot of trouble.

My cousin stubbed his toe last year, and it turned purple and swelled up pretty badly. I kept telling him to go to the doctor, and he just said it wasn't worth it for a stubbed toe. It ended up getting infected, and when his fever spiked to 105, he had no choice and his wife made him go. Turns out he was severely diabetic and had no idea. Because he waited so long, the infection killed so much good tissue that he ended up losing half of his foot to amputation. I'm not trying to scare you, but sometimes being scared into going to the doctor ends up being a good thing.

 

[Fear The Spear]

Well I called the Dr office and the soonest they could see me is Monday.
I guess I'm thinkin I should go to the ER or some kind of Immediate Care ?

 

[Fear The Spear]

Well, I went to an Urgent Care clinic today. The doc just did a visual inspection and no tests done, and said it does not appear to be a clot. He said if it was a clot, I would have swelling below the bruise. But it was probably just a contusion or a regular bruise.

I hope the quality of the doctor and care at a Urgent Care is close to what I would have gotten at the ER, since they have more specialists at the ER. Ironically, it got worse today right before I went to the clinic, with more pain, and numbness, and throbbing. I really feel like something is cutting off the circulation in my leg. So I'm concerned about it, despite what this doc said, and debating whether to get a 2nd opinion soon.

 

[Boone]

You'd probably need an ultrasound to know if it's an issue with circulation. If you are having 'numbness', I would find another doctor...there's something going on beyond a bruise. 'Compartment Syndrome' isn't a bad guess - if you're actively bleeding in your leg, it could be compressing nerves. You don't have any swelling of any kind (even in your foot of that leg)?

 

[Fear The Spear]

No swelling that I can see.
What would be the title or the type of specialist that does ultra-sound, and handles these types of symptoms ?

 

[Boone]

I hate to direct you to an ER, because they should really be used for emergencies, but they would be able to do whatever tests are appropriate to figure out what's going on with you. Do you have a general practitioner? Most 'specialists' will want you to see a general MD who will then refer you? You might be better of just going to an ER. Or call the Urgent Care back and see if they have the ability to doppler your leg or do an MRI or something to see if maybe it's more serious than 'a bruise'.

 

[Nobody]

Most urgent care centers only have xray abilities, and send you to outside sources for imaging that is more in depth. The problem with a lot of urgent care places, is that your intuition was right, and the doctors tend to be sub par at best. Although it's not always the case, it is more often than not the case. On more than one occasion, I was misdiagnosed at an urgent care center and ended up in the hospital. They don't like doing tests.

As Boone stated, the ER is for emergencies and should be used for such, but worsening symptoms, especially when they concern you and include pain, would be a good cause for going IMO. They will do a lot more than other places, especially if you insist on it.

As far as going to a specialist, it's like Boone said, you would have to be referred by your doc, which most doctors will do without a visit if you just call and ask them to do it.

A sight diagnosis, as you got in this case, is always indicative of a lazy doctor willing to assume the usual, rather than confirm it.

I don't know where you live, but here in Hampton Roads we have places called MRI-CT Diagnostics that will do it, all you have to do is call them. If you're close, here's their site.
http://www.mri-ct.com/

 

[Fear The Spear]

So is it possible, before seeing a particular doctor, that you can get them to commit to, and guarantee that they will perform a particular test, before you agree to make the appointment ?

 

[Nobody]

So is it possible, before seeing a particular doctor, that you can get them to commit to, and guarantee that they will perform a particular test, before you agree to make the appointment ?

It all depends on the relationship you have with the doctor. I know my doctor is great and will do any test I feel concerned enough to have.