Swollen or Infected?
March 24th, 2013
Well, I have been swimming and using a stationary bike and stretching and strengthening. Things seemed to be going well. And today my tendon hurts. The skin is swollen and red and I can’t tell if this is just a sign of overdoing it or if I have an internal infection. Anyone have experience with this? Should I go back to my surgeon tomorrow? Or do I just let it rest for a couple of days? Advice, please.
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Lizzie-
Draw a line around the border of the redness (use a marker). Mark the time. Rest and elevate- don’t do anything that would make inflammation worse. Wait a few hours- see if the redness is growing. If it is (for you doc) draw a line around it again, so they can see the rate and direction of growth - that’s an indicator of infection. And, see a doc quickly if it’s growing. Check closely for signs of a fever too.
Sounds smart to me. But also, unless your exercise could have rubbed or chafed or irritated the area that’s red, an unusual reddening (I assume you’re VERY familiar with what normal swelling looks like!) suggests that something unusual is going on. If it is an infection, getting it identified and treated ASAP is probably much better than later. And of course, don’t let anybody give you any fluoroquinolone-family antibiotics like Cipro etc. unless there’s zero choice.
Thank-you for the feedback and helpful pointers. I drew the line around the area last night and it is the same today - phew. I spoke to my PT who said that it is red because of the scar tissue and until that breaks down the blood can’t circulate freely and so it become red and swollen. In other words, I over did it. She suggested pointing my toes today to give the achilles a rest. The big job now is to break down the scar tissue mostly through massage. Any more tips on breaking down scar tissue are welcome.