Erythema nodosum

[Christie08]

Anyone familiar with this at all? I have been battling bacterial tonsillitis for 2 weeks now and yesterday morning noticed 3 tender red lumps on my leg, then more appeared as the day went on. On my other leg on my thigh! Went to the doctors who straight away said it was Erythema nodosum. Quite sore and stiff now and I've noticed another 8/9 lumps since this morning! Anyone else had this? But many lumps should I expect and how bad does the pain get?

I have some personal experience of this. You need to take good care not to bash them, as they ulcerate easily. Ulcers can take years to heal. Your doctor's may do an x-ray to rule out chest infections. There used to be a connection between this and TB. I'm guessing you haven't been to a country with TB recently or teach in inner city areas in the UK where a new student might have introduced it? Definitely not trying to scare you, as TB is extremely unlikely and my knowledge of this is 30 years old. It cleared up with steroids. Protect them from shopping trolleys! 💐

@DianaT1969 Thanks for replying! How long did it last? The doctor said mines seems to be connected to strep. Haven't been to any other country so doubt it's TB. Thanks for the advice never thought about getting them hit. Really dreading these next few weeks with it! Never ever heard of it in my life before.

I had this a few years ago, although the cause was unknown. I can't remember exactly how long it went on for, I think they appeared over the course of a week? They were red, raised and sore for a few days, then flattened out and looked more like bruises. They took a few weeks to go I think but weren't painful after the redness disappeared.

@Utini yes this is what mines are like! The ones on my shin and knee are quite big, I'd imagine because their bony areas. Thanks for replying, I would say I will have a lot more appear over night. I have about 18 now 😔

Mine didn't take the usual route. Unknown cause and I had them for around 3 months, but then a couple ulcerated and they took around 18 months to heal, with a couple of rounds of steroids. I had 8 or 9 on my lower legs, warm to the touch and no other signs of illness. Quite perplexing. I got the impression from doctors that mine didn't follow the usual route. I can't remember if they tried antibiotics first. They never came back again. I was under a vascular specialist and a dermatologist at the hospital during tests/ treatment.

@DianaT1969 that's great that they haven't come back! I'm on antibiotics for my tonsillitis so hopefully once that infection clears then these will clear up in time afterwards.

I think I had maybe 10-15 in total, and like Diana I've never had it again. I didn't have any complications like ulceration, and I don't remember seeing anything about that when I read about it years ago, so hopefully that's unusual and won't happen to you!

Fingers crossed for you that they stop appearing soon. If they're anything like mine, they'll be feeling better in a few days.

I had this a few months before I got married 20 years ago! I’d had a really sore throat and then it progressed to really really stiff joints to the point where it was difficult to raise my arms up to wash my hair. Then I developed the bumps on my legs and went to see a rheumatologist who diagnosed erythema nodosum. Interestingly, very soon after the bumps appeared, all the pain away and gradually the bumps disappeared as well. At some point during it all I had a throat swab and that came back positive for a streptococcal infection. I’ve never had any issues since.

@AvonCallingBarksdale that's good that it never came back! Mines seems to be from strep throat also.. they say it's very very rare but it seems quite common!

This is my legs today! The lumps are getting a bit more angry looking, but hopefully see a difference next week

Yes I remember mine looking exactly like that. It is miserable as I remember but for me the bumps were definitely the beginning of the end

I've had this before. Couldn't figure out why, but they eventually faded. They take quite a while to fade iirc

It's really not nice company at all! Making sure to rest as much as possible. Does anyone know how long it takes for the lumps to go down and start turning into bruises?

It was years ago for me so not quite sure, but I don't think it was more than a week.