Pimple On The Leg. Pain And Numbness In The Lower Leg. Bruised Skin On Leg. Will Cancer Be A Cause?

Posted on Wed, 6 Jun 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 6 Jun 2012 Answered on

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : About three months ago I got what looked like a bug bite/pimple on my left leg, left side, middle. Even had blood and a little puss, I did not scratch when it itched, and It seemed to "heal" but not entirely, I have what seems to be a scar and about a month ago another tiny pimple popped up, same thing about a cm away from the other. Keep in mind these are small scar like now - they don't look like any of the pics of skin cancer online or anything. I didn't think about it much, until recently when my left leg beneath the knee and foot started hurting for no reason really. Keep in mind i sit Indian style a lot - its habit. But then, About two hours ago when i got back from my run, i sat indian style as i always do and it looks as if my shoes caused a red bruise, that hasnt gone away for over Two hours.

For years when I worked out my feet would go numb and my doc said it was just poor circulation. Any ideas? I'm insanely busy and I travel all the time - :( I know i need to get checked out but by which doc? Derm? Ortho? gP? Any ideas on what It could be - I mean the Internet essentially tells me I have cancer so I'm hoping you have a less scary diagnosis.

Answered by Dr. Dr.Raju.A.T (44 minutes later)

Hi,

Thanks for your query.

I agree with you in internet being a misleading tool specially in field of medicine.

The lesion you had months ago could be folliculitis and has no direct relation to the lower limb pain you have now.

The numbness and pain in the lower limb with red bruise what you explain makes me suspicious about it being due to poor circulation as your GP opined.

Also there is one chance where the folliculitis you had previously could have resulted in local inflammation and release of debris which could have got converted into a thrombus occluding a blood vessel in the leg causing these problems.

I suggest you to consult a General surgeon first who may ask for a Colour Doppler test for the blood vessels in the leg.This tests spots out the exact site of block in circulation and the management may be medical or surgical based on the severity.

Wish you good health.

regards,

Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar