Lumps of stress in legs, massage helps. What are they?

Iam 23 years old male, weight 149lbs, 5'6

During many years I have been experiencing my legs as if they weight a little more and it makes me feel overall tired without much will to do a lot of physical activity. In my expierance I have related this problem get worse when Iam in periods of high stress.

The temporary cure that I found was to perform a deep massage over my legs.. the massagists that have done this have only told me its "normal stress" and that iam accumulating "small balls" generally about 4-6 that they massage directly and "remove". Iam older now and Iam sick of having to do this every once or twice a month.. In periods of a lot of stress once a week. I dont feel any kind of numbness on my legs ever, it doesnt hurt I just feel tired.. and I tend to sleep more untill the next massage. Once I get the massage I feel 100% new. These balls are not visible but you can feel them when you push tight. Into the area.

Please view this image for the area it affects

The technician from the ultrasound said it was femoral neuritis and that the lumps I felt was the product of the inflammation.

Can anybody tell me what the name of what i have really is? According to what I see the femoral nerve is on the other side of the leg and extents in a larger spot then the one Iam affected.

The lumps are hard.

Thank you!!!

Sounds like simple cysts and that they just happen to co-incide with heavy legs sensation but these might not be directly linked. Sebaceous cysts are really common and come and goin most of us. They typically pose little problem although finding them can initially make you a bit anxious. If you are worried suggest you see a neurologist about the heavy leg issues and mention the lumps as a side issue in the history.

A neurologist can also investigate conditions like Femoral Neuritis and other neuropathies or collagen issues

Here's some more info

Hard lumps on the upper thigh area could be sebaceous cysts. A sebaceous (or epidermoid) cyst is a noncancerous swelling under the skin. It is lined by packed outer skin cells. The cyst itself is filled with oil or dead cells. Under certain conditions such as stress, increased activity, mechanical irritation, diabetes, or other concurrent illness these cysts may enlarge and become somewhat tender. On occasion, these cysts will be drained by the physician and antibiotics will be prescribed. Warm moist compresses will commonly help bring these cysts “to a head” and help them drain. It is not uncommon for these cysts to increase and decrease in size particularly when there is increased activity and/or sweating.

Thank you very much for your reply....

I will take all into consideration, this is helpfull in orientating me.

With all due respect I dont feel this could be cyts.. as they are hard and all of them are always removed in a 30minute session, and always upon applying pressure _directly_ and removed it makes me feel 500% different.

Its been happening for years and years... and I only get them in a VERY specific part of both legs.. always at the same time.

I dont have the appointment untill a little later on which is why i thank you for your kind feedback.

Jose

Can you describe them a bit more? Size, more about how they feel, also exactly where they are on the body. This might help with idea generation a there are lots of connective issues but not so many that would resolve with a 30min massage. One thinks of the typical presentation of "knots" in the muscle that are there with things like fibromyalgia/polymyalgia but this would perhaps be a more widespread issue in your body and would be associated with pain as well. I'd love to know the results of a muscle biopsy/MRI/EMG from a neurologist as the feeling of heaviness in the legs is interesting.

A lateral thought is it might be vascular related?

Coming to think of it the people that do the massages often use that same word "knots" i did not mention it before because i thought it was just a variation of "ball" or "lump".

*Yes, its a very specific zone (the one pictured)

*No I do not feel pain.

*When I reffered to heavy feeling I think it would be wiser to describe this feeling as my legs just being tired... I think that is a more proper adjective.

* I have no stiffness (perhaps because its very specific)

Considering this, would you still be interested in the exams you pointed?
Would you still advise the best specialist for this is a neurologist? or some other?
In what sense can it be vascular related?

Thank you again for your kind attention...!!!

Size is about the size of a corn seed.
I dont feel them.
I only feel pain when pressure and massage is applied, that always removes them. In the worse case 2 massages are needed.

May I ask, if it where muscle knots would this have relationship with femoral neuritis? Thank you.

It sounds like you have trigger points as a result of Chronic Myofascial pain. I have it and the symptoms are the same.