Unilateral swelling in my lower leg

Posted by Anonymous519981 @anonymous519981, Oct 8, 2025

I have an area mid-calf, lateral where a muscle seems to be swollen. I can see a "line" which seems to be the outline of the muscle. Mild burning/ aching but nothing severe. The area is not warm to the touch and it feels firm. It's just lateral to a mole which has been deemed to be of no concern by my PCP, but I wonder. I exercise regularly, mainly walking and weights and it seems to be slightly more painful after.

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Profile picture for AnnieC @annc999

What about CVI? Chronic venous insufficiency. I had swelling in one calf and they said no blood clot and blamed it on aggravated bakers cyst due to overdoing it on the treadmill. Then I saw a vascular doctor who confirmed CVI. Compression socks and leg elevation forever. Glad it wasn’t DVT.

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@annc999 No... my ankles are not swollen, no pitting edema and only lower leg on one side is affected. It's not in my calf but the outside of my lower leg. My doctor (and I) can feel the outline of the muscle which is what is swollen.

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If you don’t get answers, you should consider a CT or MRI just to be sure it’s not something like a sarcoma. These are very rare, fortunately, but once the common stuff has been ruled out you need to move on to the uncommon

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Profile picture for laura1970 @laura1970

If you don’t get answers, you should consider a CT or MRI just to be sure it’s not something like a sarcoma. These are very rare, fortunately, but once the common stuff has been ruled out you need to move on to the uncommon

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@laura1970 I thought about that too, and my doc suggested an ultrasound, not an MRI or CT. The problem is the expense.

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Profile picture for Anonymous519981 @anonymous519981

@laura1970 I thought about that too, and my doc suggested an ultrasound, not an MRI or CT. The problem is the expense.

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@nam093049 to my thinking, which may be wrong, an ultrasound should be much less expensive than a CT or MRI. I would call your insurance and ask exactly what the cost would be

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The last time I checked with my insurance for the cost of a test, it ended up being 3 times what they told me. Of course an ultrasound is far less expensive, but it's not free.

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