Treatment for a lump on the shin will depend on the cause of the lump and its severity. Most shin lumps are caused by swelling due to a minor injury. In very rare cases, a lump on the leg or shin may be caused by cancer or another serious health condition.
To treat a lump on the shin caused by an injury, you should aim to keep as much pressure off the leg as possible. If there is a lot of swelling, you can put an ice pack on it for five to ten minutes at a time to lessen the swelling. You may also experience pain due to the bump which caused the bruise, so an over the counter pain medication may be needed.
If the injury also caused an open wound or severe bruising, you should clean the area thoroughly and apply an antiseptic gel or lotion. Pain and swelling can also be alleviated with a bandage wrapped around the area. Make sure you do not wrap too tightly, because this could lead to reduced blood flow to the area. Most of the time a lump on the shin will go down in size within a few hours and the entire wound should be in the process of healing within a few days.
If the swelling doesn’t go down or if it gets worse, you should see a doctor right away. You may have injured your leg more severely than you thought, or another underlying condition may be to blame. It is rare that a lump on the shin would mean cancer, but this can occur, and should be checked if the lump continues to grow or appears in an area where no injury has taken place.
Serious conditions should only be treated by a medical professional. Any lump on the shin that is causing severe pain or is not healing is worth checking out. Most of the time it will be something minor that can be easily fixed. For large lumps causing by a sprain or force to the leg, you should keep in mind that continuing to apply pressure to the area or engaging in physical activity can cause the swelling to last for longer than normal.
You cannot get a proper gauge of severity unless you give the injury time to heal. If this is not possible, pay careful attention to the lump to ensure that it is behaving normally. Even with resumed activity, the swelling should go down within a few days.