Strange quad pain

[alwaysinjured]

About 3 weeks ago I stumbled while playing soccer. In an effort to stay on my feet i stretched out my leg in front of me. The result was that my entire load fell onto my leg which was completely straight (knee locked). This caused a huge amount of pain right through my quad and deep in my leg. However within about 2 minutes or so I had managed to run it off and put it down to just some intense jarring.

After the game I started getting a deep throbbing from the outside of my quad. The outside back part of it. But from fairly deep inside. It was not painful to the touch. I massaged it out later with a tennis ball and it seemed to help. I trained sprints throughout the next week and a half until this weekend. I played again and although I had a little twinge in the game, it was generally fine. Throughout the course of the two weeks though I must say that something felt a bit odd. I would have a lsight weird hip pain one day then a throbbing knee the next.

Then out of nowhere two days agao I woke at 5am with a terrible throbbing pain in the side of my leg. Over the next hour it got worse. Felt like someone had stabbed a knife in there causing a sharp pain followed by a dull throbbing. The pain radiated to my hip and also to my knee but greatly reduced from the epicenter.

Two hours later it was gone. I have no pain when bending the leg. Can raise the leg straightened without any problem or pain. The sprints i did didn't give any pain, discomfort or weirdness until well after they were over and none of it is sesnitive to the touch. What on earth could this be?

I am taking a few days off but really have no ideas where to start. What sort of injury could be caused by such a jarring?

[Heidi]

Hi
This could be a number of things, from a muscle tear, to ligament damage. Its so broad that I would have trouble even giving you an educated guess!
I think you would be wise to rest it for a week or two, and in this time try to gently stretch all of the leg muscles (quads, hamstrings, groin, glutes and calves).
Pain at night is usually an indication of inflammation, and so anti-inflammatories may help.
If you find that any muscles are particularly tight them try some massage.

Where exactly is the area you described at the 'epicentre'? Is it on the front of the thigh, or more the side? And how high above the knee?
Have you had any back pain at all? Any previous injuries?

[alwaysinjured]

Thanks for the reply.

The epicenter of the pain is very much on the side on the quad. Almost towards the back of it. This is on the outer side btw. However I get twinges of pain all over the quad from time to time. Sometimes near the knee, other times deep inside at the hip joint. This morning I had twinges of pain on the inside of the quad muscle! However following activity any pain that presents is always on the outer side of the quad. Another manifestion will be increased heat production from that area.

I have suffered from shin splints for a long time and have been on a generic form of Mobic to help control the inflammation that results. Unfortunately these have done a number on my stomach so I am off all anti-inflams for a while. I have been using ice following activity and then doing gentle stretching. Movememnt of the leg, stretching or activity itself doesn't illicit any pain. They may be mild tightness deep inside however.

Could there be either a deep muscle contusion from the jarring or a stress fracture? When the injury occurred and i landed on my foot with my leg locked out, it was as though the whole quad was flexed super tight for a moment and pain just shot all the way through it. It went from the surface of the muscle right to the deepest point. I thought I had broken my leg! But within minutes I had run it off. It's just never been the same since then.

[Heidi]

Hi
Its unusual to injure the thigh muscles from such a movement, it is usually the knee joint when the leg is bent back.
Have you visited your Doctor? If not then I would recommend you do to try to get referred for an x-ray or MRI if you can.