View Full Version : Tiny hard lump below ankle, xray says calcified density but it has changes
I've posted about this in the past but wanted to try again because I noticed something new about it. I just wanted to see if anyone has any ideas or has dealt with similar.....
Anyway, I have this tiny lump (like a pebble in size, under a cm.) below my outside right ankle for about 2-3 years now. It feels very hard and doesn't move at all. I asked my Dr. about it back in 2016 over the summer and she said its a boney spur. So I forgot about it mostly but would check it here and there but wasn't worried at all because it always felt the same in size and shape. Cut to September 2017, I was checking it one night and noticed it felt bigger and more pronounced. Que radar! I pressed hard on it to see if it would move at all and when I did, I felt like something popped or slid away really quickly and it went back to its original small size. :scared15: So I thought it must have some fluid built up around it and I popped it. No biggie. Well about 3 weeks later, I noticed it felt bigger again so I went to see my new GP about it. She felt it and thought it could be a hard cyst but sent me for an xray. I had that done the same day. The next day the doctor called said the report said that its a "calcified density" probably from an old injury. I don't recall hurting my ankle in the past, but its an easy place to injure so I thought Ok great! I felt better and let it go. Well about a week ago I noticed it again and pressed on it like I did back in September and it did the same thing, popped or whatever and it felt small again. What the? THEN last night I felt it again and its back to being big again. What the heck is this thing? Its got my radar going again :doh: and I'm not happy about it because I've really been trying on my anxiety lately and this is trying to set me back! I don't want to run to my doctor because I'm trying to stop that. Of course, I broke my rules and googled and I read about clear cell sarcoma and synovial sarcomas can take YEARS to grow but are very aggressive and they are most common in the feet and ankle area. And panic! Ugh! Anyone dealt with something like this before?
Sorry so long! :blush:
Hmmm...honestly that is weird. I am not a doctor, but seems like it's filling with fluid (which would not indicate cancer).
Personally, I would just make an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon and explain the popping thing and ask if that could really be a calcification. I think you are justified in questioning the original xray result. I do understand the not wanting to run to the doctor, but misdiagnosis does happen. It happened to me with a similar toe thing and I needed to get a 2 opinion since it was enlarging.
My second opinion said that the soft tissue mass in my foot in not sarcoma. It's been acting up lately, as in hurting, and I'm not sure if it's getting bigger (they didn't want to remove it), and I am with you on the what the hell is this thing feeling!! Even with health anxiety, there is sometimes something going on physically that could be relatively benign but still important to get a proper diagnosis.
I know this is easy to say, but try to stay calm. Get answers but you are far from hearing bad news, in my opinion.
Thank you NervUs for your kind response and reassurance. I do appreciate it!
I thought about seeing another doctor but the idea of that completely sends my anxiety through the roof. I just want to be done with it.
What did your Dr. say your toe lump was? What does it feel/look like? I can't see mine at all only feel it. It literally feels like a smooth pebble under the skin, sitting on a tendon.
Mine feels like that too....but....in my second toe. It is between the joints. I can kind of make mine out with my eye when I look to the side.
I have two diagnoses for this thing--- the first, which resulted from a botched aspiration, came out epidermal inclusion cyst. Second doctor was visibly pissed when he saw that path report and was like no way, you've been misdiagnosed (which made me about throw up in the exam room). The second doc was real conservative about taking out removing whatever is in my toe, so he sent me for imaging.
I had a MRI (and don't mean to alarm you, but xray is not adequate to get a look at soft tissue things). The MRI didn't really show anything up, besides swelling and fat deposits. The second doc declared this tenosynovitis (basically inflammation of the synovial sheath, or something like that). I googled, of course, and it can present with mass and it can stem from injury. I beat the hell out of my feet at Disney World (lol) about 2 years prior to finding this thing (about a year ago now is when I first noticed it), so that is consistent with the diagnosis I guess.
I went through the ringer with this thing, though, as the misdiagnosis, growing back, seeing second doctor, getting imaging and waiting for results transpired over about 4-5 months. Because of that, I decided to get a second opinion on my second opinion, lol, and he concurred there was nothing visible besides swelling and that he also wouldn't recommend any surgical intervention.
So, tenosynovitis is the diagnosis I've been going with, but that is not based on biopsy.
It feels A LOT like you described yours, though. Very hard, under the skin. Mine isn't poppable, ALTHOUGH I feel like there was a time when it was getting smaller. That is over though and, if anything, it is slightly bigger now and tender at times, as I said. It is right on the bottom of my toe so can get aggravated when I walk.
I have occasional doubts about all of this and scared myself silly with synovial sarcoma googling. So, I hope it isn't that.
I am thinking of going back to let the doctor know it feels different to me-- although he did tell me to tape it, which I have been sporadic with. I have been taping recently to see if I get some relief over the next few weeks.
I am sorry this is so long. I am very long winded lol
Wow, sounds like you've been through it with this thing. The fact that you had an MRI and it showed nothing scary would rest my mind. Those are THE tests, in my opinion. I don't think mine is actually popping but more of maybe some hard scar tissue sliding away or something. That is what it feels like anyway. I keep telling myself that anything related to the big C word, would not behave this way. It just keeps getting bigger right? Ugh! I hate this so much. I've had this thing for, at least, 3 years and I have never worried over it really. I have a good friend that is a nurse and she told me probably a fluid built up around it and that is what I'm actually "popping." She said not to worry about it that the Xray showed what it is. She said if the xray didn't say what it was, then that would be different, but it did. So I'm going with her advice for right now. I may go see an orthopedic surgeon after Christmas/New Years. But right now, I just need to keep working on my anxiety which I've been making big strides on lately.
You went to Disney World? You were in my neck of the woods. ;) I live in FL about an hour away from Disney. We are actually getting our kids passes for next year. Very excited! I haven't been in about 7 years.
Omg Leslie I'm sooo jealous of where you live! I loooovvve Florida.
Anyway, if it helps any, I was born with weird ankles. On either side of the main ankle bone I have quite large boney prominences. I remember my mum took me for X-rays and they said they would operate and some of the bone could be shaved off. I never had this done and it's never bothered me since. It was picked up because as a child every pair of new shoes rubbed my bones and made them bleed.x
Have fun with your Disney pass, Leslie, and make sure you wear shoes that fit lol!!! I was there almost three years ago now and was there one other time and Disneyland two other times (but one of those I was a child so this was a looooong time ago). I am a big Magic Kingdom fan but, dang, the crowds!!!! It's enough to turn you off from humanity for good, lol!
I am hoping to go back in 1-2 years so my youngest gets a chance to go and actually remember it. She was only 1 when we went last time.
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