Soft tissue contusion is one of the most common types of injuries in household and sports injuries. The cause of injury can be a fall, a blow with a blunt object, an accident, etc. Most often, damage to soft tissues is observed (without violating their integrity), but when exposed to significant physical force, bruises of muscles and other structures can occur. Therefore, if you experience sharp pain in the area of injury, hematomas, or swelling, you should immediately seek medical help. Only a competent specialist can determine the nature and extent of the damage and explain to the patient how to treat soft tissue bruises on the leg.
In what cases is the help of a traumatologist needed?
Determining whether the victim needs to see a doctor is quite simple. The main symptom is severe pain in the knee joint, which does not subside even after first aid. In this case, the indications for contacting a doctor are:
- knee deformity;
- crunching when trying to bend the joint;
- formation of a hematoma at the site of the injury;
- the appearance of a lump that continues to increase in size;
- swelling and swelling that appeared several hours after the injury;
- numbness of the leg in the knee area.
All these symptoms may indicate not just a bruise, but serious damage to the joint, which requires qualified medical care and long-term treatment. Therefore, if your knee hurts after a bruise, then a specialist should answer the question of how to treat it. It is he who can answer the question of what kind of knee bruise this is and how to treat the swollen one.
If your knee is swollen after a bruise and you don’t know what to do, a traumatologist will not only provide the necessary medical care, but also prescribe effective treatment. However, first you will have to undergo an examination using X-rays, and, if necessary, do computer diagnostics to determine the extent of damage to the joint and soft tissues.
Anatomical structure of the lower leg
The lower leg is the part of the lower limb from the knee to the heel. It consists of the tibia and fibula bones, to which the patella is attached. The tibia and fibula articulate at the top, at the bottom they end with two processes (the outer and inner malleolus), and they are connected along their entire length by a membrane.
The severity of injury symptoms depends on where it is located on the lower leg.
The soleus muscle is adjacent to the tibia and fibula. The gastrocnemius muscle has two heads, one of them is attached to the lateral and the second to the medial side of the femur. In contact, both heads overlap the soleus muscle and pass into the Achilles tendon, which is attached to the calcaneus.
Muscles are attached to the back and front of the leg bones, which are divided into three groups:
| Group | Description |
| Front | Extend the foot and toes |
| External | Bend the foot, and also abduct and rotate it outward |
| Rear (calf) | Flex the foot and toes |
Methods for restoring a knee after a bruise
Treatment of the spine and joints through surgery is an extreme measure that specialists resort to in cases where bone and muscle tissue are seriously damaged. For ordinary fractures and cracks, a plaster cast is applied; in all other cases, a tight bandage on the knee is recommended.
So, what should you do if your knee is swollen and painful due to a bruise? Any traumatologist will tell you that you will have to resort to the help of anabolic steroids, which are taken orally or applied to the site of the injury in the form of an ointment. If a large hematoma has formed at the site of the bruise, it is punctured to ensure blood flow and reduce pressure on the injured area. If, with a knee injury, the leg below is swollen, and the injury itself is accompanied by an open wound, it is carefully treated and a sterile bandage is applied. If the wound has healed, but the leg continues to hurt and the swelling does not subside, ointments are prescribed that effectively remove swelling, as well as drugs that reduce pain.
How to choose an effective cream for bruises and bruises?
As a local non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, you can choose a European-made drug - Aertal® cream. It has an anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect, suppresses the development of edema and erythema. This is the only drug based on aceclofenac in the form of a cream. It has established clinical efficacy and is well tolerated.
The active ingredient - aceclofenac - is found in the cream in the form of tiny particles. After application, it is absorbed, quickly reaching saturation. The active substance accumulates in the absorption zone. This helps to increase anti-inflammatory activity. Aceclofenac enters the systemic circulation in small quantities, so the risk of side effects of Aertal® cream, including on the gastrointestinal tract, is minimized.
To prevent the development of swelling, relieve pain and reduce bruising, apply the cream with rubbing movements to the site of the bruise 3 times a day.
First aid has been provided: what next?
It is not surprising that with serious injuries to the knee, the leg hurts for a long time. In addition to the medications prescribed by the doctor, you can use traditional medicine. If your knee hurts badly after an injury, and you don’t know what to do, and the prescribed remedies do not bring relief, you need to reduce the load on the injured leg, and ideally, stop walking altogether for several days. A tight bandage around your knee will help minimize joint mobility and reduce pain. In the first days after injury, you should avoid drinking large amounts of liquid to prevent swelling of the limbs. Sometimes, after such injuries, patients’ temperature may rise—in this case, it is worth using antipyretics.
If quite a lot of time has passed after the injury, joint mobility has been restored, but the knee still hurts when bending after the injury, you should contact your doctor again, who will prescribe additional physiotherapeutic procedures. This can be massage, warming up, physical therapy, which will help relieve pain symptoms and will be the last stage of rehabilitation after an injury.
Symptoms and consequences of bruises
The most characteristic symptoms of a bruise are pain, swelling and bruising. The intensity of their manifestation depends on the degree of damage to soft tissues as a result of injury. They range from minor scrapes to bruising and swelling that can cover a large area of a limb, such as the thigh, calf or forearm.
A bruise - or more correctly, a hematoma - is an accumulation of blood at the site of a bruise caused by damage to the blood vessels, which manifests itself 2-3 days after the injury. Over time, the bruise changes color from blue to black or yellow, this is due to the processes of breakdown of blood elements. Edema or swelling at the site of injury occurs due to hemorrhage and the development of an inflammatory reaction. The stronger the hematoma and swelling, the stronger the pain. This occurs due to stretching of soft tissues and compression of nerve endings.
Treatment
When a diagnosis of a shin bruise is made, the traumatologist prescribes a course of treatment depending on the nature, complexity and extent of the injury. If the hematoma is large, apply a pressure bandage, wrapping it with an elastic bandage on top. In extreme cases, it is removed promptly.
Painful sensations are relieved by one of the analgesic drugs - Dexalgin, Ketanov and others. Systemic pain treatment will be provided by drugs such as Paracetamol, Diclofenac or Ibuprofen.
Read also: Question: should I use ointment after a broken arm?
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are also used - Dikulya, Fastum-gel, Deep Relief and others. To get rid of hematomas, warming ointments and creams are useful - for example, Lyoton 1000, Girudalgon, Rescuer. To restore tissue, you will need drugs with special enzymes - Phlogenzyme or Wobenzym.
Sometimes, during the treatment of a shin bruise, complications that require special attention develop. Special therapeutic massages and special compresses can help. If the mobility of the limb is lost, surgery is performed.
A rehabilitation program that includes:
- massage performed by a chiropractor,
- exercise therapy,
- physiotherapy.
The last point includes working with a magnet and laser, as well as electrophoresis. Relatives of the victim can also learn massage - doctors are usually willing to share their techniques. As you can see, it is impossible to get by with only home treatment for a bruised leg. It is also useful to read about back bruise due to a fall, treatment at home.
Bruised soft tissue requires professional attention. In this case, the patient should be attentive to his own feelings and monitor the overall dynamics. The reason for an unscheduled visit to the doctor may be:
- increase in hematoma,
- temperature rise,
- burning in the damaged area,
- any deterioration of the condition (general or local).
Traditional methods of treatment
When diagnosed with a shin bruise, traditional treatment can be supplemented with traditional methods. For example, several heads of garlic are crushed and poured with vinegar (preferably apple). The composition is poured into a clean transparent container and closed tightly. The tincture becomes usable three days later. It is applied within a week.
They also chop wormwood branches (young), and then squeeze the juice out of them through clean gauze. The damaged area can be lubricated with juice twice a day for a week.
The burdock root is peeled and finely chopped, after which the mass is diluted with steamed olive oil. The composition is heated over low heat. Then you can rub the affected shin with it.
There are also unusual folk remedies, for example, coarsely grated laundry soap filled with half a glass of alcohol. The mixture is supplemented with a glass of lamp oil and 30 grams of camphor. A lotion with mixed product is applied to the damaged area.
It is also recommended to mix vegetable oil (optional), vinegar and water in equal parts. A clean piece of gauze is soaked in the mixture. This compress is periodically applied for a couple of hours throughout the week.
You can melt the following in equal volumes in a water bath:
- fresh lard,
- birch tar,
- ate resin.
This unusual mixture is poured into a clean container. It is stored for a couple of days, tightly closed with a lid. The ointment infused in this way should be applied to the affected shin and covered with a clean bandage.
Potatoes, peeled and finely grated, are very popular. The paste is applied daily to the damaged area for several hours.
For a bruised shin, folk treatment at home is represented by a lot of recipes. It effectively complements the treatment prescribed by doctors.
Forecast
In most cases, the prognosis is favorable. Typically, complete recovery from a minor injury occurs within 2–3 weeks. In more severe cases, the recovery period is longer and sometimes lasts several months.
If the injury occurred during sports, then you can return to them only after the mobility of the limb has been completely restored.
It is important to remember that if the symptoms of a shin bruise, despite treatment, do not subside or intensify, you should consult a doctor, which will help avoid the development of serious consequences.
Possible complications
The easiest and most common complication of a bruise is a lump. Usually it appears after a hematoma in places where there is almost no fatty tissue under the skin.
How severe this disorder is and how long it lasts depends on many factors, including the severity and nature of the blow. If the lump persists for more than a week, you should consult your doctor, as this may indicate calcification of the hematoma.
Periostitis
Bruising of the periosteum can lead to a more serious complication - periostitis. This is an inflammation of the periosteum, which usually begins in its outer or inner layer and then spreads to the remaining layers. The inflammatory process can easily move from one tissue to another, since there is a close relationship between the bone and the periosteum.
A common complication of lower leg injury is periostitis.
The pathology according to its clinical course is divided into acute (subacute) and chronic forms. Most often, the periosteum is affected in an area of bone that is poorly protected by soft tissue, in particular on the anterior surface of the tibia.
Simple periostitis is characterized by an acute aseptic inflammatory process with hyperemia, slight thickening and infiltration of the periosteum. Accompanied by swelling and pain in a limited area. The inflammation usually subsides quickly, but sometimes fibrous growths or deposits of calcium salts are possible.