Waldo here again. I am glad the Foot Blogger Chick is away for another week. I get another week to talk about foot lumps. This week, we will talk about the more serious kinds of foot lumps.
I know it has been said before but you need to check your feet and make sure everything looks normal. Let me stress to you that it is important because foot melanoma is the most deadly form of the disease and if you don’t check your feet, it can go undetected.
There are various kinds of tumors that can cause foot lumps. Some are heath threatening and some aren’t but they do need to be checked. You could have a Fibroma which is a benign tumor composed of fibrous or connective tissue. Or you could have a Lipoma which is a benign fatty growth. While neither is life threatening, they both need to be diagnosed by your friendly local podiatrist. But then there are more serious lumps like Lymphoma (cancer of the lymphatic system), Non melanoma skin cancers, and Sarcoma (malignant tumor of the bone or cartilage) that can be serious and need immediate attention.
If you notice that you have an abscess with a spreading infection, or an open foot sore (particularly if you are diabetic), or you think you have a bone fracture in your foot, you need to go see the doctor right away.
I usually don’t like to go into too many details (read that as threats) on this blog but ignoring tumors on your foot can have serious consequences. If you have an infection, it can spread throughout your body and be very hard to cure. If is it cancer, it will depend on the type and extent of the cancer. How serious? These are some of the possible complications that can come from tumors:
1. You could need to have your foot or part of your foot amputated.
2. You may not be able to get around as well.
3. The joints in your foot can suffer damage that needs surgical intervention.
4. If it is an infection, gangrene can set in.
5. If ignored, the cancer can spread.
Please call the doctor to have your foot checked if you have find a tumor on your foot that you don’t know why it would be there or it looks infected. Your heath could be at risk. If you see a sore on your foot that is red, infected and has lines radiating from it, go to the emergency room. Don’t waste any time; it is a serious infection that needs attention immediately. If you have a sore and you start to run a fever that means that the infection may be spreading. It is also the time to get to your friendly local podiatrist or to your emergency room right away. Please, your life is worth more than wondering if it is the right thing to do. If it turns out that you are fine, then go home and celebrate. If not, then you did the right thing by going.
The Foot Blogger Chick will be back next week so I will say goodbye until her next vacation. (I count the days, really, I do.)
Waldo