Written by Shiv Mohan Banka, Principal Physiotherapist at Phoenix Rehab, AHPC A1302278J.Clinically reviewed by Louise Yow, Principal Physiotherapist & Director, AHPC A1300363H.Last reviewed 8 October 2026.
A dead leg is a deep bruise in the quadriceps, the big muscle at the front of the thigh, after a knee, a kick or a hard edge drives it against the thigh bone. The leg goes numb and heavy, then stiffens. How far the knee bends the next day shows how bad it is.
Key takeaways
- A dead leg, also called a thigh contusion, quadriceps contusion or corked thigh, is a bruise deep in the thigh muscle from a direct blow. A pulled thigh muscle is a different injury, with no blow.
- How far the knee bends 12 to 24 hours after the blow grades it: more than 90 degrees is mild, 45 to 90 moderate, less than 45 severe.
- A thigh you cannot stand on, or one getting tighter and more painful hour by hour, needs the emergency department now.
- A firm lump, or a knee bend that stops improving at 2 to 3 weeks, needs a doctor to check for myositis ossificans, bone forming inside the muscle.
- The bruise fades before the thigh is strong again. We measure the knee bend and the thigh against the other leg before sprinting, kicking and contact come back.
What is a dead leg?
The quadriceps is four muscles down the front of the thigh, from the hip to the kneecap. They straighten the knee and lower you down every stair. A dead leg happens when something hard hits the front or outer side of the thigh and crushes the muscle against the thigh bone, the femur. The muscle bleeds inside. The swelling sits deep, so the bruise on the skin can be small, can show up days later, or can track down toward the knee.
Doctors call it a quadriceps contusion or a thigh contusion. Australians call it a corked thigh. In the US, “charley horse” can mean a dead leg or a cramp, and those are two different problems.
What does a dead leg feel like?
A thud, then the leg goes numb and heavy, and for a few moments it will not take your weight. You limp off. Over the next hours the front of the thigh tightens. By the next morning, bending the knee is the hard part: the stairs at the MRT station, folding the leg into the car, squatting to the toilet, kneeling.
Should you walk on a thigh contusion?
For a mild dead leg, walking within comfort is usually fine. If you cannot put weight through the leg, or you limp badly, use crutches and have it checked. A doctor rules out a broken thigh bone first. After a bad dead leg, doctors and physiotherapists often take some weight off the leg with crutches while the bleeding settles.
How it happens, in the order to check
1. A knee to the thigh
A tackle or a challenge in football and futsal. A knee in a ruck or a tackle in rugby. A knee in the thigh while setting or fighting through a screen in basketball. A knee, a stick or a ball at speed in hockey.
2. A kick
The round kick to the outer thigh in Muay Thai, kickboxing and MMA, landed again and again in the same spot during sparring. Shin and knee injuries from kicking are covered in Muay Thai and boxing injuries.
3. A hard edge at work or at home
The corner of a table or a desk. A car door swung into the leg. A trolley, a pallet or a fall against scaffolding on site, covered in construction worker injuries. A motorbike that goes down on the leg, covered in driver and rider injuries.
In each case you remember the blow. A sudden pull at the front of the thigh while sprinting or kicking, with no contact at all, is a strain, not a dead leg.
Dead leg, pulled thigh muscle, broken femur or something else?
Ask three things: was there a blow, can you stand on it, and is the thigh getting tighter.
| Condition | How it started | What you notice | What it needs first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dead leg (quadriceps contusion) | A knee, a kick or a hard edge into the thigh | A deep ache and swelling where you were hit, and a knee that will not bend fully by the next morning. The skin bruise may come later, lower down | Stop playing, cold and compression. The knee bend checked the next day |
| Quadriceps strain (pulled thigh muscle) | No blow. A sprint, a kick or a long stride | A sudden pull at the front of the thigh, worse lifting the knee against resistance or kicking. High up near the hip, see hip flexor strain | A physiotherapist |
| Hamstring strain | No blow. A sprint or a high kick | A pull at the back of the thigh, not the front | A physiotherapist. A doctor the same day for a pop at the sit bone with bruising |
| Broken thigh bone (femur fracture) | A road accident, a fall from height, a high-speed collision | Severe pain, you cannot stand, and the thigh may look short, bent or twisted | Call 995 |
| Acute compartment syndrome of the thigh | Hours after a severe blow or a crush | A thigh getting tighter and harder, pain far out of proportion, worse when someone bends the knee. Tingling or numbness in the leg | The emergency department now |
| Myositis ossificans | Weeks after a bad dead leg | A firm lump deep in the thigh, and a knee bend that stops improving or goes backward | A doctor, who decides on an X-ray or ultrasound |
| Knee injury (inner knee ligament or kneecap) | A blow or a twist at the knee itself | Pain at the knee, not the thigh. Swelling inside the joint, or the knee giving way | A doctor or a physiotherapist. The emergency department if the kneecap stays out of place |
| Cramp (“charley horse”) | No blow. At night, or late in a hot game or a long run | The muscle knots hard and lets go within minutes. Sore afterward, but the knee bends | Stretch it out. A doctor if cramps keep coming back |
How bad is it? The knee bend test
The skin bruise does not tell you much. How far the knee bends does. In a study of young athletes, Jackson and Feagin graded thigh contusions by the knee bend: more than 90 degrees was mild, 45 to 90 degrees moderate, and less than 45 degrees severe.1 Clinicians usually check it 12 to 24 hours after the blow, once the bleeding has had time to show itself.
To check at home, lie on your back and slide the heel of the hurt leg toward your bottom. A right angle at the knee is 90 degrees, and half a right angle is 45. If the knee stops short of halfway to a right angle, see a doctor the same day.
Why the first 24 hours matter
The muscle keeps bleeding for hours after the blow. Stopping play, cold, a compression wrap and raising the leg all aim to keep that bleeding small. Some sports medicine teams also hold the knee bent, to about 120 degrees, in a wrap for the first 24 hours after a bad dead leg, so the muscle rests long instead of short.2 Whether that suits your thigh, and for how long, is a decision for your doctor or physiotherapist.
After a severe blow, the bleeding can push the pressure up inside the thigh until blood struggles to reach the muscle. This is acute compartment syndrome. It is rare in the thigh, and it is a surgeon’s emergency. The signs are a thigh that gets tighter, harder and more painful hour by hour, pain far out of proportion to the knock, pain when someone bends the knee for you, and tingling or numbness in the leg. Compartment syndrome in the lower leg is covered in broken shin bone.
If you take blood thinners or have a bleeding disorder, a knock can bleed more than you expect. Tell your doctor about any large swelling the same day.
Myositis ossificans: when the bruise turns hard
After a bad dead leg, the body sometimes lays down bone inside the healing muscle. This is myositis ossificans. In a study of 117 thigh contusions in West Point cadets, it developed in 9%. It was more likely when the knee bent less than 120 degrees at first, in American football, after a previous thigh injury, when treatment started more than 3 days after the blow, and when the knee on the same side had swollen.3
The signs are a firm lump deep in the thigh and a knee bend that stops improving or goes backward, usually from 2 to 3 weeks after the blow. An X-ray may not show the bone for 3 to 6 weeks.4 Whether you need an X-ray or an ultrasound is a decision for your doctor. Many are watched over the following months, and whether one ever needs removing is a decision for a surgeon.
Early heat, massaging the injured area and carrying on exercising after the blow have all been linked with it.4 So your physiotherapist decides when hands-on work on the thigh starts, and we measure the knee bend at every visit.
How long does a dead leg take to heal?
It depends on the grade. In the West Point cadets, on a supervised program, the average time out of full duty was 13 days for mild contusions, 19 days for moderate and 21 days for severe.3 Those were young cadets treated from the first day. The order is the same for everyone: the limp goes first, then the stiffness on stairs. The full knee bend, the sprint and the kick come back last.
Dead leg treatment: who does what
- A doctor (your GP, a polyclinic doctor or the emergency department) examines the thigh, rules out a broken femur and compartment syndrome, and decides whether you need an X-ray or an ultrasound. A doctor decides whether a large collection of blood needs draining.
- A surgeon treats compartment syndrome, and decides on the rare myositis ossificans that needs removing.
- A physiotherapist measures the knee bend and the thigh against the other leg, decides how much weight the leg takes and when hands-on work starts, and brings back the bend, the strength, the sprint and the kick in stages. If the bend stops improving, we refer you back to your doctor.
The four stages for a dead leg
In the Phoenix Recovery Protocol the work starts at Calm & Protect: play stops, the bleeding is kept small, crutches if you limp, and the knee bend is checked. Move & Mobilize brings the knee bend back toward the other leg and gets you walking without the limp and taking stairs foot over foot. Rebuild & Strengthen loads the thigh one leg at a time: squats, step-downs, lunges. Return & Perform tests the tasks themselves: running, sprinting, cutting, the round kick or the shot on goal, the tackle, and for work, kneeling and ladders.
What we measure
- Knee bend lying on your back. In degrees, against the other leg.
- Knee bend lying face down. In degrees, against the other leg. This stretches the bruised muscle to full length, and it is usually the last number to match.
- Thigh girth. A tape around both thighs at the same height above the kneecap, week to week.
- Walking. The limp, and the stairs, up and down.
- Single-leg squat and step-down. Depth and control, each side.
- Sprint and change of direction. At rising speed, and where it catches.
- Kicking. Counted, at rising effort, on the pads or the ball.
- The myositis watch. The knee bend is recorded at every visit. If it stops improving or goes backward, we write to your doctor.
Tested, not dated. The plan moves on when the measures say so.
What you can do this week
- If you cannot stand on the leg, or the thigh looks bent or short, do not try to walk it off. Go to the emergency department, or call 995.
- Stop playing. Going back on with a dead leg adds to the bleeding.
- A cold pack wrapped in a cloth, in short spells, and a compression wrap around the thigh, firm but not tight. Sit with the leg raised.
- Keep heat, heat rubs and deep massage off the bruise in the early days.
- Bend the knee gently within comfort a few times a day. Holding it bent in a wrap is a decision for your doctor or physiotherapist.
- Use crutches if you limp.
- Do the knee bend test the next morning, and write down how far it goes.
- Pain relief and anti-inflammatory medication are a decision for your doctor or pharmacist.
Is this normal?
Usually expected: a thigh that is stiffer and sorer the morning after than on the day. A bruise that appears days later and slides down toward the knee, going from purple to yellow and green. A limp in the first days after a mild one. Tightness on stairs and squatting while the knee bend comes back.
Worth getting checked: a knee bend that is no better from one week to the next. A firm lump in the thigh. Still limping two weeks after the blow. A thigh that catches on every sprint or kick when you try to go back.
When to see a doctor first
- Call 995 if the thigh looks bent, short or twisted after a road accident, a fall from height or a high-speed collision, if you cannot move the leg, if you feel faint, pale, cold or sweaty after a thigh injury, or if a wound is bleeding heavily and firm pressure does not slow it.
- Go to the emergency department now if you cannot stand on the leg after a blow. Also for a thigh that is getting tighter, harder and more swollen hour by hour, with pain far out of proportion to the knock, pain when the knee is bent for you, or tingling, numbness or weakness in the leg or foot. Also if the foot turns cold, pale or blue, if you cannot lift the straight leg off the bed, or if a swelling in the thigh is still growing and you take blood thinners or have a bleeding disorder.
- See a doctor the same day if the knee bends less than halfway to a right angle (under 45 degrees) 12 to 24 hours after the blow, if you take blood thinners or have a bleeding disorder and the thigh has a large swelling, or if the knee itself swells up after the blow.
- See a doctor soon for a firm lump in the thigh, or a knee bend that is no better or is going backward, 2 to 3 weeks after the blow. Also for bruises that appear without a knock. A pull at the back of the thigh with no blow is covered in hamstring strain.
Where are you with this right now?
1. It is bending further each day
You remember the knee or the kick. The thigh was stiffest the morning after, and since then the stairs get easier each day. The bruise has gone from purple to yellow, and when you slide your heel toward your bottom the knee nearly matches the other one. That is a dead leg behaving as expected. Bring running back before sprinting, and sprinting before kicking and contact. You do not need us for this, and we would rather say so.
2. The bruise has gone, and the knee still will not bend
Three weeks since the knee to the thigh in the Thursday futsal game.
You still hold the sink to squat onto the toilet. At the MRT station you take the stairs one at a time, the bad leg kept straight. Getting into the car you lift that leg in with both hands. You have sat out two games, the Muay Thai gym membership is on hold, and at work you send someone else down to the bottom shelf.
Rest made sense in the first days. In your own weeks since, rest has faded the bruise and left the knee bend where it was.
The bruise has gone yellow. Has anyone measured how far that knee bends against the other one?
If there is a firm lump in the thigh, or the bend is going backward, a doctor sees you first. If your doctor is happy, one Assessment & Treatment with a physiotherapist measures the knee bend both ways, the thigh and your walk against the other leg, treats what is limiting you in the same visit, and tells you which stage you are in.
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3. You have had a procedure on the thigh
Surgery after a dead leg is rare. If a doctor drained a large collection of blood, or a surgeon operated for compartment syndrome, your surgeon sets what the leg takes and when, and we work inside those limits. See physiotherapy after surgery. Your surgeon’s protocol takes precedence.
If it is months on and the knee still will not bend fully, or the thigh still catches on the sprint or the kick, the Stalled Recovery Review is three weeks with the same physiotherapist. The first visit measures the knee bend, the thigh and the movement that catches. The next two measure how they respond.
All of it runs on the same four stages. The Phoenix Recovery Protocol explains what each stage works on and what you have to meet to move up. No referral needed to start.
Next step
Find out which stage you are in
Pain is the first thing to leave. Movement and strength are the last things trained back, and most people stop before that part is done. One Assessment and Treatment is a single 45-minute appointment at $230, nett, no GST. Your therapist finds what is actually limiting you, treats it in the same appointment, and you leave with your current stage and a written plan.
Prefer to phone? Each of our five clinics has its own number on the clinics page. No referral needed to book.
Related reading
- Hamstring strain: a pull at the back of the thigh
- Hip flexor strain, high at the front of the thigh
- Football injuries, including the thigh
- Rugby injuries, tackle by tackle
- Muay Thai and boxing injuries, including kicks
- Broken shin bone, and compartment syndrome in the lower leg
- The Phoenix Recovery Protocol, and the four stages
Sources: 1. Jackson DW, Feagin JA. Quadriceps contusions in young athletes. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1973;55(1):95-105. 2. Aronen JG, Garrick JG, Chronister RD, McDevitt ER. Quadriceps contusions: clinical results of immediate immobilization in 120 degrees of knee flexion. Clin J Sport Med. 2006;16(5):383-387. 3. Ryan JB, Wheeler JH, Hopkinson WJ, Arciero RA, Kolakowski KR. Quadriceps contusions. West Point update. Am J Sports Med. 1991;19(3):299-304. 4. Ryan JM. Myositis ossificans: a serious complication of a minor injury. CJEM. 1999;1(3):198.
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