Lump on the shin

What is a bump on the shin?

In layman terms, a bump on the shin is any type of swelling under or in the skin on the front lower leg.
The bump can have different causes and originate from different structures. Due to the fact that a large area of ​​the bone on the shin is covered only by skin and without any other cushioning soft tissue, bumps quickly appear on the shin if you bump your leg there. In most cases, a bump on the shin is harmless.
Usually it does not require any special treatment and disappears on its own. If the bump on the shin persists for several weeks or if it is getting bigger and bigger, a doctor should be examined.

causes

The most common cause of a bump on the shin is swelling due to an injury to the lower leg. If you bump your shinbone, for example, this can lead to an accumulation of tissue fluid or the leakage of blood under the skin, which ultimately causes the bump. Another common cause of a bump on the shin is localized inflammatory reactions, such as a reaction to an insect bite.

There is increased blood flow and increased permeability of the blood vessels in the affected area, which also leads to the formation of a bump. In rare cases, the bump on the shin goes straight from the bone. Benign swellings are more common. Only in extremely rare cases can a bulge that has developed over a long period of time and for no discernible cause be a malignant swelling, which means bone cancer.

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Bump after trauma

A trauma, i.e. an injury to the shin, is by far the most common cause of the development of bumps.
In contrast to most other parts of the body, the bones on the front lower leg are barely protected by soft tissues and the edge of the shinbone is largely only surrounded by a thin layer of skin and subcutaneous tissue. In addition, it is easy to injure your shin, for example by tripping or pushing.

In addition to the often severe pain mediated by the pain-sensitive periosteum, such trauma often results in bumps. This can occur, on the one hand, through the leakage of tissue fluid and, on the other hand, through bleeding if blood vessels have been injured. Post-trauma bumps should be cooled and usually resolve within a few days. In the event of severe injuries such as a traffic accident, however, a doctor should be consulted, as the trauma may also have resulted in a broken bone.

Soft bump

Most of the bumps that can appear on the shin are soft.
This is because most of the possible triggers are caused by an increase in fluid build-up in or under the skin on the lower leg. This can be caused by an injury or an inflammatory reaction, among other things. If a bump on the shin is soft, this can usually be regarded as a good sign, since potentially dangerous causes of the bump, such as a bone overgrowth, tend to be very hard and rough to feel.
Soft bumps on the shin usually subside within a few days to a few weeks. However, a medical examination is recommended if a soft bump occurs that keeps getting bigger or does not go away after two weeks.

Concomitant symptoms

Depending on what is causing a bump on your shin, you may experience a variety of accompanying symptoms.
If, as in most cases, the trigger was an injury to the front lower leg, the bump is usually accompanied by severe pain. These are most intense immediately after the injury and then slowly subside. Another accompanying symptom can be a bruise if the injury has injured a blood vessel and bleeds into the tissue.

In the event of an inflammatory reaction, for example as a result of an insect bite on the lower leg, in addition to the bump on the shin, reddening and overheating of the affected area can appear as accompanying symptoms. In the extremely rare cases in which the bump on the shin is due to a serious illness, accompanying symptoms may include fever, unwanted weight loss and profuse sweating at night. A doctor should be consulted promptly in the event of these complaints.

Pain

A bump on the shin is most often associated with pain. Usually the trigger is an injury to the bone on the lower leg.
The periosteum that surrounds the shin reacts very sensitively to pain and is hardly protected at this point on the body. If you hit your shin, you will immediately experience severe pain with a bright, stabbing character.

After a while, the pain character typically changes to dull, throbbing pain. A bump on the shin that causes no pain and occurs without a recognizable trigger, on the other hand, is rather unusual. Even if the cause is usually harmless, a medical examination is still recommended if the bump has persisted for more than two weeks or is getting bigger and bigger.

Find out more about the topic: Bruised tibia

Bruise

The shin is one of the parts of the body on which bruises most often appear, which are often accompanied by a bump.
In the vast majority of cases, this is the result of an injury to the shin, for example if you hit your lower leg on an edge or step. The skin and the subcutaneous fatty tissue are pressed onto the bone, which can hardly give way. With this brief squeezing of the soft tissues, it can easily happen that small blood vessels burst in or under the skin.

As a result, there is a bleeding into the tissue at the affected area. In addition to the bruise, which initially appears as a typical bruise, a bump forms on the lower leg due to the escaping blood. The blood is broken down and absorbed by the body in various stages over the next few days. This changes the color of the bruise from green to yellow and the bump usually disappears on its own within a week.
In rare cases, bruises and bumps for no apparent cause are more common on the shin. If this occurs, and if very large bruises develop, a doctor should be consulted as in some cases these may be signs of a blood clotting disorder.

diagnosis

When diagnosing a bump on the lower leg, specific questions are most important, which the doctor will also ask during his examinations.
First of all, it is crucial whether there is an identifiable cause for the formation of the bump. If it is the result of a minor injury, there is usually no disease that requires targeted treatment and one can wait for the further course. The shin can occasionally be cooled as a support. In addition, further questions, for example about accompanying symptoms, concomitant diseases or long-term medication, can be important for the diagnosis.

The second important part of making a diagnosis is physically examining the bump on the tibia. A close look at the swelling usually gives clues to the cause. If a bruise appears, it is due to bleeding, for example due to an injury. A localized clear reddening can be an indication of an insect bite as the cause of the bump on the shin. In addition to the observation, further knowledge can be obtained by feeling the bump.
In most cases, additional diagnostics such as ultrasound or blood sampling are not necessary or indicated and should be reserved for exceptional cases in which these measures could benefit.

therapy

Treatment of a bump on the shin is done according to the cause.
Since in most cases it is the result of an injury to the lower leg from being hit or exercised, therapy based on the PECH rule can be used. The acronym stands for the four measures that should be followed so that the body recovers from the injury and so the bump can recede. The P stands for pause and means that you shouldn't exercise while the bump on your lower leg is causing discomfort. The E stands for ice, which means that the regression of the bump should be helped by temporary, but not constant, cooling.
Immediately after a severe injury, the formation of a bulge can be contained by applying a compression bandage (C “Compression”). The H stands for elevating the leg. Since the bump on the lower leg is based on water retention after an injury, its absorption and removal is promoted by the elevation, so that the body can remove the bump much more easily than if the person concerned is only sitting or standing.
In the vast majority of cases, a bump on the shin will recede by itself with these supportive treatment measures. In contrast, it is only necessary in a few cases that a specific targeted therapy is carried out. Depending on the underlying health disorder, this may be necessary in the form of taking medication or, in very rare cases, even through surgery.

Read more on the topic: PECH rule

Duration

The duration of a bump on the shin is limited to a few days to a few weeks in most cases.
Often it is a harmless water retention, for example after an injury, that is causing the swelling. This is quickly and completely reabsorbed by the body, so that the bump disappears again after a short period of time. However, if the duration of the bump on the shin exceeds two weeks or is even getting larger instead of smaller, this is unusual and should be clarified through a visit to the family doctor.