I need some injury troubleshooting advice. For years I’ve had this lump on the left side of my left shin. I fear it may be some kind of chronic muscle tear, as described on Gerard Hartmann’s site below. He prescribes cross-frictions. The symptoms are especially prevalent the lesser the warmup. Although the lump never really goes away, a longer than usual warmup will eliminate most of the symptoms, characterized by what feels like tight, tangled muscle strands. Before I take to blasting the thing with hand massage and Stick torture, I want to make sure I’ve got this right.
Thanks in advance.
has a doctor looked at it?
are you sure its not just a “lump”?
I have and have seen many people with benign lumps under the skin. They can be removed.
Joel you need a sports doctor to check that out right away. If it is scar tissue then yes Deep friction massage will help tremendously, I did that with my patellor tendon as well as microstretching. Check out Deep friction massage or just type in massage in the search engine and you’ll get the protocols.
joel, what does the lump feel like? Is it hard or soft? If you push your finger into it does it feel like a dimple? Does it get bigger when you run?
Thomas
I have what looks to be the exact same thing except mine doesn’t hurt. I have them on both shins and they kind of feel like a bubble of fluid underneath the skin…weird.
nitro, more than likely that is a fascial hernia in either the anterior tibialis or peroneal muscles. Most times they are not a problem unless they are painful and cause disability.
Thomas
The lump is relatively hard. It basically feels like the peroneal muscle is tied in a knot. Palpating the knot causes a shooting pain at the area which can be felt for a few inches up and down the leg, as though the nearby muscle fiber is affected by rubbing the knot itself. The knot gets bigger if a proper and slow warmup are not done. It gets smaller if the warmup is sufficient.
My gut instinct tells me to dig into it with some crossfrictions. The sensation of rubbing it vigorously is a psychological “painful cleansing”. I’m looking for confirmation of this before I really hammer it, and am trying to avoid the whole doctor routine if possible.