What causes inflammation and swelling lower leg after a shin injury?
Patient: I had a blow on my shin on June 4th from the edge of a chair on which I had been standing. Almost immediately, there was a large goose egg about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, which stayed for several days but gradually subsided and took a few weeks to completely disappear. There was a slight indentation with no breakage of skin, probably where my shin hit the edge of the chair. About 1 week later, I had an urgent care doctor(we were traveling at the time) look at it and X-rays were taken, indicating no bone break or chips present. I have some concern now, however, about reddening of the skin below the injury down to my ankle and foot as well as some swelling of the ankle/foot. This is now almost 1 month later. Is this normal? Can I treat it in any way? BTW, I THOUGHT YOUR WEBSITE WAS FREE...!! Doctor: Hello ! Your concern is well received. One month is too long a time to wait to see '' if it heals by itself ''. However , if its not causing too much concern in your day to day activities , exercising, walking ,  pain , and there isn't much swelling , the movement of the foot and ankle is ok , too  chances are that it isn't anything serious. However its a good idea to get it checked though by an orthopaedic to know if  there is some residual inflammation , and if you need medication. more important is the course of recovery - if it has worsened over one month or improved over  one month. If it has worsened , you should visit the doc right away !  If there is swelling and pain , you will also benefit from physiotherapy to manage the same. Hope this helps .