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Olympic athlete Lawrence Okoye recently posted a video to TikTok showing how his legs had basically turned to playdoh. People began commenting saying he had water retention and that perhaps his kidneys, heart, or other organs were failing. It turns out he had a condition from a bacterial infection called cellulitis.
Recently, however, he posted a video to his TikTok showing that something was obviously up with his health. In the video, he showed himself pressing indents into a very swollen right lower leg.
He commented saying that his leg looked like it had turned into PlayDoh. Naturally, the comments section filled up fast with people concerned for his well-being. People were quick to point out that this was water retention. They then just as quickly jumped to many worst-case-scenario situations: Kidney failure, liver failure, heart failure, cancer, and the like.
Okoye did go and see the doctor, after which he updated his fans and followers. No, he was not experiencing any kind of organ failure. What he had was a condition called cellulitis.
“I had a leg injury a few days ago and the wound got infected with bacteria, which causes redness, swelling and that pitted edema that you saw, which was me basically making craters in my leg,” he said in the follow-up video. “It’s easily treatable, just a week’s worth of antibiotics and some rest and I should be back to normal.”
Cellulitis is an infection caused by bacteria leaking into the body through cuts or wounds in the skin. Though it is not immediately life-threatening, if left untreated, it can become that way. It can spread quickly through the bloodstream to affect other parts of the body, including the heart and lungs. Cellulitis is often caused by Strep A or B bacteria, but there are many other strains that can cause this condition as well.
Anytime you notice a change in your health or something about your body that doesn’t seem right, don’t wait. Go talk to your doctor right away. As was in Okoye’s case, the infection was not so advanced and was easily treatable with antibiotics. There was no long-term damage done and he will be back to his regular self in a few days. If he had let that infection go untreated, however, it could have been a very different story. Don’t wait – Keep tabs on your body and health and don’t let things go until it’s too late.
